Tyson acquires Keystone Foods for $2.1bn

Meat processing giant Tyson Foods has agreed to buy Keystone Foods for $2.16bn.

The sale, announced on 20 August, will see Keystone, a major supplier to the food services industry transfer ownership from Brazilian agri-business Marfrig Global Foods.

Keystone has a global presence, with six processing sites in the US, as well as eight plants and three “innovation centres” in China, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Australia.

“Keystone is a leading global protein company and will be a great addition to Tyson Foods,” said Tom Hayes, president and CEO of Tyson Foods. “This acquisition will expand our international presence and value-added production capabilities and help us deliver more value to our foodservice customers.

Keystone provides a significant foundation for international growth with its in-country operations, sales and distribution network in high growth markets in the Asia Pacific region as well as exports to key markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. We look forward to serving customers with these additional capabilities and to welcoming Keystone’s dedicated team members to the Tyson Foods family.”

Keystone, employs approximately 11,000 people and generated annual revenue of $2.5 billion