Senators Ask Treasury Secretary To Investigate JBS
JBS SA executives told market analysts last week they continue to seek opportunities for acquisitions and expansion. Meanwhile, two U.S. senators are calling on Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to investigate if the Brazilian-owned meatpacker used proceeds from a bribery scheme to expand its US operations.
Sens. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) the chairman and ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, respectively, sent a letter Friday to Yellen asking her to launch a probe of JBS and the owners of its parent company, Joesley and Wesley Batista, through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS). CFIUS is chaired by the Treasury secretary and has the power to review and block the acquisitions of U.S. companies by foreign entities if the transactions could threaten national security.
Last October, J&F Investimentos, the JBS parent company, agreed to pay a $256 million fine to the Justice Department over charges it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The Batista brothers had previously admitted to paying roughly $150 million to bribe more than 1,800 Brazilian government officials to secure $1.3 billion in loans from the Brazilian Development Bank and federal pension funds.
Both JBS USA and Pilgrim’s Pride, now a subsidiary, also paid more than $100 million in fines to settle price-fixing charges.
“When foreign companies benefit from corrupt practices and spread them to U.S. markets, they jeopardize our economic security, present direct risks to our businesses, and undermine our efforts to fight corruption abroad,” Menendez and Rubio wrote in their letter to Yellen.
During the call with analysts, JBS Global Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Gilberto Tomazoni said the company looks for acquisitions aligned with its strategy, able to generate synergies and which could add value to JBS. The company is mainly focused on increasing its value-added and branded products in its portfolio.
The CEO of JBS USA, André Nogueira, said that JBS has the advantage of evaluating acquisition opportunities globally.
“We are looking at (potential opportunities) in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe, Australia... It is a global vision and we will decide based on the value that we will add to the company. I don't see any other company that has this ability to look and decide where the acquisition is better, where there is more synergy, or whether acquisitions or organic growth makes sense,” he said.
