Marfrig has acquired more shares in BRF, taking its stake in its fellow Brazilian meat supplier to more than 50%.
In a stock-exchange filing issued on 28 December, BRF said Marfrig had informed the company its shareholding had crossed the 50% threshold.
Marfrig first invested in BRF in 2021, buying just over 21% of the business. Since then, the beef giant has built its stake piecemeal and, as of October last year, owned just over 45% of BRF. It now holds 50.06% of the Sadia brand owner.
BRF said Marfrig had told the business it “does not aim to change the current shareholding control composition nor the administrative structure of the company”.
Marcos Antonio Molina dos Santos, Marfrig’s chairman, is already the chair of the BRF board. He was elected BRF chairman in 2022. Sergio Rial, a former Marfrig CEO, is BRF’s vice chair.
BRF’s second-largest shareholder is Salic, Saudi Arabia’s state agriculture fund.
In 2022, BRF’s net operating revenues were 53.81bn reais ($10.97bn), up 11.3% year on year. However, the company’s operating income fell 85.4% to 408m reais. From BRF’s continuing operations, it made a net loss of 3.09bn reais.
In August, Marfrig agreed a deal to sell cattle slaughtering and deboning plants to Brazilian peer Minerva Foods for 7.5bn reais (then $1.53bn).
Meanwhile, in November, BRF abandoned a plan to sell its pet-food arm more than eight months after announcing it was in talks to offload the assets.
