JBS Food Canada Inc. will sell Lakeside Feeders, its beef cattle yard and adjacent farmland in Brooks, Alberta, Canada, to MCF Holdings Ltd., a subsidiary of Nilsson Bros. Inc., a livestock-based agricultural business in Alberta, for CA$50 million (US$39.6 million). Completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory review and approval.
Under terms of the agreement, MCF will continue to supply cattle to the JBS Food Canada beef processing facility in Brooks. MCF anticipates offering employment to current feed yard and farm employees after the closing of the transaction.
JBS announced in June that it would sell its subsidiary JBS Five Rivers Cattle Feeding, a wholly owned subsidiary. JBS is divesting of the subsidiary as it intends to further sharpen the focus of the business on key strategic areas, protect core assets and allow the company to reduce net debt as it works on plans for future growth.
Selling these assets is central to a strategy designed to reinforce JBS’ competitive advantage in the global food industry, the company stated in a press release. The sale of feed yard assets will more closely align the JBS business model with key U.S. competitors and allow the company to concentrate its efforts on its core food and value-added products businesses.
The decision to sell the cattle feeding operation comes several weeks after the company stated it did not intend to sell any U.S. assets. JBS had previously announced that it would sell beef operations in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay to Minerva.
