JBS puts Five Rivers Cattle Feeding LLC on sale block

GREELEY — JBS SA, the Brazil-based parent company of JBS USA in Greeley, said Tuesday it plans to sell its Greeley-based Five Rivers Cattle Feeding LLC as part of a $1.8 billion divestment plan to allow the company to reduce debt.

A potential buyer has not been named.

The company’s board of directors approved the sale of Five Rivers Cattle Feeding, as well as shareholding stakes in Brazilian dairy company Vigor Alimentos and Northern Ireland poultry business Moy Park. Earlier this month, the group announced that it was selling its subsidiaries in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay for $300 million.

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Financial Times reported that this capital-raising plan was spurred by last month’s revelations that Joesley Batista, the company’s former chairman, secretly taped Brazilian president Michel Temer, allegedly discussing bribes. J&F, the holding company of JBS, then agreed to pay fines of $10.3 billion over 25 years, part of a plea-bargain deal on a series of corruption investigations.

Five Rivers has a combined feeding capacity of more than 980,000 head of cattle at 12 feedlots and farms in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona and Idaho.  Five Rivers, on behalf of JBS Food Canada, manages a 75,000-head capacity feedyard in Brooks, Alberta, Canada.

In Colorado, Five Rivers has four feedlots: Gilcrest Feedlot in LaSalle, Kuner Feedlot in Kersey, Yuma Feedlot in Yuma and Colorado Beef in Lamar.

JBS said Five Rivers will continue to operate as usual, including the purchasing of cattle and commodities in the ordinary course of business, until the closure of a transaction. JBS USA intends to continue agreements to purchase cattle from feedlots associated with Five Rivers Cattle Feeding operations.

Five Rivers has a long history in Colorado’s cattle industry. For a timeline, click here.