JBS Sells Canadian Cattle Feeding Business for $40 Million
JBS has announced the sale of a feedlot and neighboring farmland near Brooks, Alberta, to MCF Holdings Ltd. (MCF) for approximately $40 million ($50 million CAD).
The Lakeside Feeders yard has a capacity of 75,000 head and JBS took ownership of the feedlot in 2013, forming JBS Food Canada.
JBS Food Canada will continue to own and operate their packing plant in Brooks, Alberta. As part of the agreement MCF will continue to supply cattle to the packer. The transaction is still pending a regulatory review and approval.
This is the first sale of the JBS Five Rivers Cattle Feeding LLC since the announcement was made last month that the cattle feeding business would be divested by JBS. The sale is part a $1.8 billion divestment plan by JBS following a bribery scandal that has rocked the Brazilian owned business.
Five Rivers has 12 feedlots in the U.S. with locations in Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado. Including the yard in Canada, JBS had a one-time capacity of one million head in North America, making it the largest cattle feeder in the region.
MCF is a subsidiary of Nilsson Bros. Inc., a livestock-based agricultural business in Alberta and owns diversified agriculture operations across the western Canadian provinces. Nilsson Bros. business includes auction markets, livestock insurance and finance, and feedlots. There are additional ranchers and livestock operations in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
MCF plans to offer employment to the current employees of the farm and feedlot, pending approval.
