Cargill selling pork business to JBS USA Pork
JBS USA Pork reached an agreement with Cargill to acquire the company’s US-based pork business for $1.45 billion.
"Today's announcement of our agreement to purchase the Cargill pork operations is a strategic investment in the long-term growth of our domestic and global pork business and demonstrates our continued commitment to the US livestock sector," said Martin Dooley, president and COO of JBS USA Pork. "This transaction will strengthen our position as a producer and supplier of all major animal proteins around the world, and provide increased opportunities for our producer partners and key customers.”
Dooley said the company was impressed with Cargill’s pork team and suppliers as well as the company’s leadership in the areas of animal welfare, exports, bacon production and innovation. These, he said, were contributing factors that led to the purchase.
According to the companies, included in the acquisition are two Midwest meat processing plants, one in Ottumwa, Iowa, and the other at Beardstown, Ill. Both plants were acquired by Cargill in 1987, and in 2014 they processed a total of 9.3 million hogs. The purchase by JBS also includes five feed mills (two in Missouri, and one each in Arkansas, Iowa and Texas), and four hog farms (two in Arkansas and one each in Oklahoma and Texas).
JBS first entered the US pork market with the acquisition of Swift & Company in 2007. The company has more than 6,000 team members and the total daily capacity to process more than 50,000 hogs at processing facilities in Marshalltown, IA; Worthington, MN.; and Louisville, KY.
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