McDonald’s Supplier Jumps 9% as Unit Sale Lifts Brazilian Stocks
The Brazilian supplier of meat to McDonald’s Corp. and Burger King Worldwide Inc. led gains in the Ibovespa after selling its U.K. unit for about $1.5 billion.
Marfrig Global Foods SA jumped 9 percent after JBS SA, the world’s biggest beef producer, agreed to buy Moy Park Holdings Europe Ltd. in cash and debt. The purchase will help buffer a 37 percent slump in the value of Brazilian mergers and acquisitions this year, compared with a 21 percent surge in global deals, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“The fact that two big companies are moving on with their strategies at a time when the economy is doing so poorly is very encouraging to investors,” Raphael Figueredo, an analyst at brokerage Clear Corretora, said by phone from Sao Paulo.
Brazilian equities have fallen 7.2 percent from this year’s high on speculation Latin America’s largest economy will slow further. The benchmark stock gauge had entered a bull market in April, after rallying more than 20 percent from this year’s low, on bets government measures to shore up the budget would prevent the loss of Brazil’s investment-grade rating.
The Ibovespa rose 0.2 percent to 53,856.08 at 11:04 a.m. in Sao Paulo. Marfrig extended a three-day rally to 17 percent.
