Brazilian meat giant snaps up Australia’s Huon
BRAZILIAN meat processor JBS has entered into an agreement to buy the Huon Aquaculture Group, Australia’s second largest salmon farmer. JBS will acquire all of Huon’s issued shares at a market value of AUS $425m (£225m) or 1.64bn Brazilian reals.
Huon is based in Southern Tasmania and owned by the Bender family. Huon’s board, including major family shareholders Peter and Frances Bender has unanimously recommended that all other shareholders vote in favour of the agreement in the absence of a superior offer.
Gilberto Tomazoni, CEO Global with JBS, said: “This is a strategic acquisition, which marks the entry of JBS into the aquaculture business. We will repeat what we did previously with chicken, pork and valueadded products – to make our portfolio even more comprehensive.”
JBS, headquartered in Sao Paulo, Brazil is the world’s largest meat processor and already owns a processing business in Australia.