Minerva vows to cut debt after acquiring Marfrig’s assets
The company is addressing concerns about its debt following a US$1.33 billion deal.
BRAZIL – Minerva, the largest beef exporter in South America, is focusing on reducing its debt after completing a major acquisition.
Executives said the company expects to lower its liabilities this year and the next after making payments on a US$1.33 billion (7.5 billion reais) deal to acquire assets from Marfrig.
Analysts have been expressing concerns about Minerva’s financial position since it announced the purchase agreement.
In February, reports indicated that Minerva submitted a revised proposal to Uruguay’s antitrust body to acquire three slaughterhouses from Marfrig Global Foods.
The Comisión de Promoción y Defensa de la Competencia (Coprodec) had blocked Minerva’s previous attempt in May to buy the sites in San José, Salto, and Colonia.
Under the updated plan, Minerva still aimed to purchase all three plants but intends to sell the Colonia facility immediately after finalizing the deal.
The company named Allana Group, a halal meat and pet food producer, as the intended buyer for the Colonia plant, pending regulatory approval.
This acquisition is part of a broader agreement between Minerva and Marfrig, which dates back to 2023 and involves facilities in Brazil, Argentina, and Chile.
The total transaction includes 11 processing plants and a distribution center in Brazil, along with the three Uruguay plants, one facility in Argentina, and another in Chile, amounting to US$1.3 billion.
Regulators in Brazil, Argentina, and Chile approved Minerva’s acquisitions last August, with Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) requiring the company to sell one Brazilian plant after the purchase.
The Uruguay portion of the deal was previously valued at US$117 million.
Marfrig confirmed Minerva’s revised proposal, stating that it does not affect the original terms set in August 2023 for the Uruguay transaction.
The company added that Minerva remains bound to acquiring all three sites as initially agreed, with any subsequent sale of the Colonia plant being a separate transaction managed solely by Minerva.
Minerva expands processing capacity in South America
Following the approval of its Brazilian acquisitions, Minerva has taken over 13 cattle and sheep processing facilities and a distribution center.
With these additions, the company has increased its daily processing capacity to 22,336 cattle across 21 plants in Brazil.
Minerva has also integrated a cattle processing plant in Argentina and a lamb slaughterhouse in Chile as part of the same deal.
Its operations in Argentina now handle 5,978 cattle per day across six facilities, while lamb processing in Chile and Australia reaches 25,716 head per day across five plants.
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