Brazilian-owned, American food company, Pilgrim's Pride Corporation has today announced that it has acquired Moy Park, a leading poultry and prepared foods supplier with operations in the UK and Europe, from JBS S.A., in a transaction valuing the equity interest of Moy Park at approximately £790m, implying an enterprise value of approximately £1bn.
Pilgrim's believes in the importance of its local business model and is committed to its team members across its global operations. Moy Park will remain headquartered in Craigavon, Northern Ireland. The Moy Park management team, led by Janet McCollum, will continue to lead the business, and the rest of the Moy Park employee base will remain in place. Moy Park will operate as a business unit within Pilgrim's and will maintain its day-to-day operations and strategic focus.
Bill Lovette, Pilgrim's Chief Executive Officer, said, 'We are pleased to announce the acquisition of Moy Park, which will position Pilgrim's to become a global player, with an improved and more stable margin profile on the chicken business and an expanded portfolio of prepared foods.
'Following our successful acquisitions of GNP and the assets in Mexico, Moy Park represents a logical next step in the evolution of our geographical and brands footprint. The acquisition gives us access to the attractive UK and European markets, which advances our strategy of diversifying our portfolio to be more global while reducing volatility across our businesses.
'We will have new business opportunities through the addition of Moy Park's fully integrated poultry production platform and its strong presence in prepared foods. Moy Park strengthens Pilgrim's' leading portfolio of brands and brings strong value-added innovation capabilities, access to new markets, a best-in-class production platform and strong farmer partner relationships. In addition, Moy Park shares Pilgrim's long-standing commitment to become the best and most respected company in our industry.'
Lovette continued, 'We welcome the talented Moy Park team members and management team, led by Janet McCollum, to Pilgrim's, and we look forward to working closely with them and their family farm partners to drive growth and deliver value for our shareholders.'
Janet McCollum, Chief Executive of Moy Park, said, 'This announcement is a positive development for Moy Park and all our colleagues employed across the business. Pilgrim's is one of the leading chicken producers in the world with a proven track record and we see great opportunities for Moy Park as part of this successful business. Joining Pilgrim's gives us the opportunity to accelerate our growth plans, share best practices and leverage Pilgrim's expertise and operational excellence.
'Moy Park will provide Pilgrim's with a platform for growth in Europe as well as access to innovation and increased exposure to prepared foods. Both Moy Park and Pilgrim's have a long heritage in agriculture and poultry production going back over 70 years and we share the same values. We look forward to this new and exciting phase of Moy Park's development as we continue to meet and exceed the needs of our customers and consumers, providing fresh, locally-sourced poultry and top quality, innovative products.'
Since its founding in Northern Ireland in 1943, Moy Park has become a top 10 UK food company and one of Europe's leading poultry producers, The firm brings to Pilgrim's a fully integrated, market-leading platform with more than 800 farmers across the UK.
Moy Park processes more than 5.7 million birds per week and has 13 processing plants located in the UK, Ireland, France and the Netherlands supplying major food retailers and restaurant chains in the UK and Continental Europe.