Brazil Egg Producer Considers US Deal After Merger With JBS

(Bloomberg) — South America’s top egg producer, fresh off a sale of a 50% stake in the corporate to meat producer JBS SA, said it’s weighing a merger or acquisition to enter the US market.

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“No option is ruled out,” Márcio Utsch, chief executive officer of Mantiqueira Brasil, said in an interview. “It may possibly occur through local production or partnerships with firms already operating available in the market.”

The potential expansion follows Monday’s announcement that JBS bought 50% control of Mantiqueira Brasil, its first foray into the egg sector. That move — in addition to the international plans — comes at a time when concern over the spread of bird flu is creating shortages within the US, sending egg prices soaring.

Mantiqueira is prioritizing the US as a latest market, allowing it to expand beyond the Middle East, Africa, Asia and South America, said Utsch, a former CEO at Alpargatas, owner of the flip-flops brand Havaianas.

The corporate wants to supply cage-free eggs within the US, a category that makes up 15% of Mantiqueira’s sales in Brazil, Utsch said. As a part of the expansion strategy, Murilo Pinto, son of Mantiqueira’s founder and chairman Leandro Pinto, has been named CEO of Mantiqueira USA.

The American egg market is currently in upheaval, with supplies constrained by a bird flu outbreak that has led to soaring prices in supermarkets, while also boosting shares of US producers like Cal-Maine Foods Inc.

At the identical time, demand has been growing worldwide as more consumers see eggs as a source of healthy protein, JBS Chief Executive Officer Gilberto Tomazoni said in a separate interview.

Because the world’s biggest chicken producer, JBS could leverage its poultry operations within the US, its largest market, in addition to in Brazil, Mexico and Europe, to assist expand the brand new egg business, Tomazoni said. He noted that each egg and poultry production have several inputs in common.

“The knowledge about other markets and countries is one among the points that JBS may help with and share knowledge,” Utsch said.

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