Minerva Foods Acquires Marfrig's South American Beef and Lamb Processing Plants

Minerva Foods will acquire Marfrig's cattle slaughtering and deboning plants in South America for approximately US$1.54 billion (BRL 7.5 billion), according to a release from the company. The acquisition will allow Minerva Foods to expand cattle slaughter and deboning capacity to more than 42,000 head per day, an increase of approximately 44% from current levels.

Minerva Foods will become the second-largest producer of beef in South America after the transaction, which is subject to analysis and approval by the respective competition authorities.

Minerva Foods will acquire 11 plants and one distribution center in Brazil, one industrial unit in Argentina, and three other plants in Uruguay, as well as one lamb plant in Chile. That will expand the company’s network of facilities to 40 cattle slaughter and deboning plants, with 21 in Brazil, five in Paraguay, six each in Argentina and Uruguay, and two in Colombia.

For lamb processing, Minerva Foods now has five plants and can process nearly 26,000 head per day — but the Chilean plant is the first lamb plant for the company in South America (with four facilities in Australia prior to this transaction).