MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazilian group buys Argentina's Swift Armour

The Brazilian group Friboi acquired the majority of shares in Swift Armour SA Argentina which will make it “one of the leading reference groups in the world beef market”, according to a joint announcement released in Buenos Aires.

Swift Armour is Argentina's main meat exporter and Friboi ranks fourth in the world's meats and food processing market.

Although no figures of the transaction were mentioned Brazilian sources indicate the operation involved 200 million US dollars, half of which was loaned by the Brazilian Development Bank.

"Acquiring Swift-Armour was strategic for the consolidation of our export markets and Mercosur", revealed sources from the Friboi group which will now supply half of the global international demand for industrialized meat products with the largest world commercial network.

Argentina's livestock and meat industry have been surprised by the number of recent acquisitions which besides Swift Armour include the Finexcor abattoir purchased by Cargill and a second plant by a British group linked to Tesco supermarkets.

According to Argentine analysts the growing demand for beef in the European Union and the ousting of United States as supplier following the outbreak of "mad cow" disease have turned South America into an attractive area for the industry.

Buenos Aires press reports indicate that financial sources revealed that the Brazilian Friboi group now concentrates 85,3% of the Swift.Armour shares, 49% of which belonged to JP Morgan and Greenwich Street Capital Partners and 36,5% to the president of the company Carlos Oliva Funes.

Apparently Mr. Oliva Funes will remain in the job as well as most board members.

"The Friboi group will retain the current production and management structures and has plans to expand in the Argentine meat sector with future investments", said a spokesperson for the group.

In the last twelve months Swift Armour meat exports totalled 150 million US dollars and the Brazilian group 800 million US dollars, which means the new association will soon be reaching sales of a billion US dollars annually.

Swift Armour represents 56% of Argentina's frozen cooked meat exports and 68% of tinned meat.