Pilgrim’s Pride sets committee to examine buyout

GREELEY — Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. (Nasdaq: PPC) will review a buyout offer by 80% majority owner JBS SA; the Sao Paulo-headquartered global meat processor said in August it wanted to buy the rest of Pilgrim’s Pride for $26.50  per share in cash.

A JBS press release at the time it made the offer said the bid was a 22% premium on Pilgrim Pride’s trailing 30-day average.  

Shares in the local meat processor, which employs more than 3,000 here, traded recently above $28 a share at a $6.9 billion market cap.

Pilgrim’s Pride board resolutions establishing the committee said holders with a majority of the 20% stake JBS doesn’t own would have to approve the deal, and that the full board won’t approve a deal without the special committee’s favorable recommendation.

The committee retained law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP as legal counsel and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC as financial advisor to help evaluate the proposal.

Pilgrim’s Pride employs 56,000 people in North America and Europe.

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