JBS increases stake in Pilgrim’s Pride
Brazilian meat packer JBS has slightly increased its stake in US poultry processor Pilgrim’s Pride as the latter company carried out a $200 million capital increase.
Pilgrim’s Pride, which emerged from bankruptcy in 2009 with JBS as its leading shareholder, issued 44.4 million shares Wednesday to “improve its capital structure.” JBS exercised its basic and oversubscription rights in the offering to raise its stake in Pilgrim’s to 68% from 67.3%.
“JBS fully exercised its subscription rights, and further assumed the share of those stakeholders who opted not to participate in the capital increase”, the Brazilian firm said in a filing, noting that the transaction saw a 94% participation rate.
“We are pleased with the 94% participation rate in our offering exercised by our stockholders. There were oversubscription requests of 60% more than the shares we issued, which we believe signals confidence in the strategy we have implemented,” stated Bill Lovette, Pilgrim’s Chief Executive Officer.
JBS is the world’s largest beef producer, and Pilgrim’s Pride is the No. 2 poultry processor. But the US firm has been struggling financially, reporting losses in every quarter of last year and requiring loans and capital infusions from JBS.
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