Pilgrim’s offering nets $200 million

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., the U.S. poultry producer controlled by Brazil’s JBS SA, raised $200 million in a rights offering to strengthen its finances after reporting losses for four straight quarters.

Pilgrim’s Pride sold 44.4 million new common shares at $4.50 apiece to existing shareholders, a discount of 28 percent from Wednesday’s closing price, Greeley, Colo.-based Pilgrim’s Pride said in a regulatory filing late Wednesday. JBS’ JBS USA unit exercised its full right to buy the shares.

Pilgrim’s Pride and its parent, JBS, are key competitors of Springdale-based Tyson Foods Inc. Pilgrim’s Pride employs about 2,000 people in Arkansas at processing plants in Batesville and De Queen, rendering plants in Russellville and El Dorado, a feed mill in Hope and a vendor-support office in Bentonville.

JBS, the world’s largest beef producer, is raising capital for the supplier to Wal-mart Stores Inc. after climbing costs and declining prices for chicken eroded profit. Pilgrim’s Pride reported a loss of $495.7 million for last year, compared with net income of $90.3 million in 2010.

The meatpacker, based in Sao Paulo, bought control of Pilgrim’s Pride in 2009 for $800 million after the poultry producer filed for bankruptcy. Its JBS USA unit owned 67.3 percent of Pilgrim’s Pride before the offering and expected to raise the stake to as much as 72.9 percent, according to a Jan. 3 statement. Pilgrim’s didn’t disclose how much JBS holds after the offering.