FDBusiness.com

US-based Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation has acquired Moy Park, a leading poultry and prepared foods supplier with operations in the United Kingdom and Continental Europe, from Brazilian meat group JBS for an enterprise value of approximately $1.3 billion (£1.0 billion, €1.1 billion).

Pilgrim’s employs approximately 42,000 people and operates chicken processing plants and prepared-foods facilities in 14 states in America, Puerto Rico and Mexico. The company’s primary distribution is through retailers and foodservice distributors and it offers a portfolio of well-known brands including Gold Kist, County Post, Pierce Chicken, Pilgrim’s Pride and GNP.

“We are pleased to announce the acquisition of Moy Park, which will position Pilgrim’s to become a global player, with an improved and more stable margin profile on the chicken business and an expanded portfolio of prepared foods,” says Bill Lovette, chief executive of Pilgrim’s Pride. “Following our successful acquisitions of GNP and the assets in Mexico, Moy Park represents a logical next step in the evolution of our geographical and brands footprint. The acquisition gives us access to the attractive UK and European markets, which advances our strategy of diversifying our portfolio to be more global while reducing volatility across our businesses.”

Bill Lovette, chief executive of Pilgrim’s Pride.

He continues: “We will have new business opportunities through the addition of Moy Park’s fully integrated poultry production platform and its strong presence in prepared foods. Moy Park strengthens Pilgrim’s’ leading portfolio of brands and brings strong value-added innovation capabilities, access to new markets, a best-in-class production platform and strong farmer partner relationships. In addition, Moy Park shares Pilgrim’s long-standing commitment to become the best and most respected company in our industry.”

With 13 processing and manufacturing units in Northern Ireland, UK, France, the Netherlands and Ireland, Moy Park processes 5.7 million birds per week, in addition to producing around 200,000 tons of prepared foods per year. Its product portfolio comprises fresh and added-value poultry, ready-to-eat meals, breaded and multi-protein frozen foods, vegetarian foods and desserts, supplied to major food retailers and restaurant chains in the United Kingdom and Continental Europe.

Janet McCollum, chief executive of Moy Park, comments: “Pilgrim’s is one of the leading chicken producers in the world with a proven track record and we see great opportunities for Moy Park as part of this successful business. Joining Pilgrim’s gives us the opportunity to accelerate our growth plans, share best practices and leverage Pilgrim’s expertise and operational excellence. Moy Park will provide Pilgrim’s with a platform for growth in Europe as well as access to innovation and increased exposure to prepared foods. Both Moy Park and Pilgrim’s have a long heritage in agriculture and poultry production going back over 70 years and we share the same values. We look forward to this new and exciting phase of Moy Park’s development as we continue to meet and exceed the needs of our customers and consumers, providing fresh, locally-sourced poultry and top quality, innovative products.”

Janet McCollum, chief executive of Moy Park.

Since its founding in Northern Ireland in 1943, Moy Park has established a strong reputation for providing fresh, high-quality and locally farmed poultry products, as well as a track record of delivering top quartile profit growth. As a top 10 UK food company and one of Europe’s leading poultry producers, Moy Park brings to Pilgrim’s a fully integrated, market-leading platform with more than 800 farmers across the UK. Pilgrim’s anticipates incremental annual revenue of approximately $2.0 billion as a result of the transaction.

Pilgrim’s expects to achieve approximately $50 million in annualised synergies over the next two years, primarily from the optimisation of sourcing and production, and cost savings in purchasing, production, logistics and SG&A. Pilgrim’s expects the combination to be immediately accretive to earnings per share.

Moy Park will remain headquartered in Craigavon, Northern Ireland. The Moy Park management team, led by Janet McCollum, will continue to lead the business, and the rest of the Moy Park employee base will remain in place. Moy Park will operate as a business unit within Pilgrim’s and will maintain its day-to-day operations and strategic focus.