Brazil: CADE greenlights JBS sale to Minerva

Brazil’s competition regulator, CADE, has approved, with no conditions attached, the acquisition of JBS beef operations in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay by subsidiaries of Minerva, a rival company.

JBS announced the sale of the entire stock of its beef subsidiaries in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay to the Minerva group for US$300 million, of which US$280 million would be paid in cash upon completing the deal.

The regulator considered that Minerva is “predominantly an exporter” and has a market share “significantly lower” than the leader, JBS, in the Brazilian sector. “Thus,… from the strictly competitive point of view, the operation does not [generate] anticompetitive effects in Brazil”, reports the document.

However, the agreement remains in doubt, since the federal court in Brasilia froze the deal on June 21, claiming that the sale could jeopardize the investigation into possible crimes committed by executives of J&F holding company Which controls JBS, the world’s largest meat producer.

Full Content: América Economía

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