Marfrig Global Foods’ recently purchased additional shares in Brazilian poultry and pork processor BRF, bringing its total holdings to 50.06 percent of the company, according to a BRF securities filing.
Marfrig had been increasing its stake since May 2021 after it had purchased shares amounting to 24.23 percent of BRF for about $800 million at that time. Marfrig’s now-majority stake amounts to 842,165,702 common shares and American Depositary Receipts of BRF.
Marfrig has indicated it does not intend to change the current shareholding control composition or administrative structure of BRF and that no contracts or agreements related to voting rights or the purchase and sale of BRF securities had been executed. It also does not plan to place new board members.
The two companies had discussed a merger in the past and talks became serious in 2022 when Marfrig chairman Marcos Antonio Molina dos Santos was also elected to be chairman of BRF.
Marfrig, which has previously owned Moy Park before its sale to JBS in 2015 and Keystone Foods before its sale to Tyson Foods in 2018, primarily operates in the beef segment. Conversely, BRF is primarily focused on the pork and poultry segments. BRF is the world’s largest poultry exporter.
