Terms of the sale, which still requires independent regulatory approval, were agreed between Calchaquí and BRF’s subsidiaries in Austria and the Netherlands on Wednesday 22 March.
A fee for BRF’s acquisition of Calchaquí has not yet been disclosed, but the move is part of a wider strategy from the Brazil-based company to acquire meat businesses all over the world.
Globalisation
“This transaction is in line with BRF’s strategic plan for globalising the company, accessing local markets, strengthening BRF’s brands, distribution and expansion of its product portfolio around the globe,” said BRF’s investor relations officer José Alexandre Carneiro Borges.
Alimentos Calchaquí produces a range of cold cuts of pork under brand names that include Calchaquí and Bocatti. As well as being part of a wider push to take the company global, this most recent acquisition can be seen as BRF attempting to firmly secure its position in the Argentinian market.
In December 2015, GlobalMeatNews reported that BRF had tabled an offer of $85m to complete the takeover of Argentinian pork producer Campo Austral. The two companies have since signed a legally binding agreement for the acquisasition to take place this year. When the deal is finally completed, it will mean BRF is the second-largest pork business in Argentina.
$2bn investment
Earlier this month, BRF reported a full-year net profit rise of 46% when compared to 2014 figures, meaning the company posted a net income of R$3.1bn. The size of growth for the multinational meat company has been largely down to a number of acquisitions in Argentina, the UK and Thailand.
The strong growth was also helped by an increase in the number of points of sale in Brazil, as well as investment to improve its customer service and tinkering with production units to improve efficiency. In the full-year trading results posted by BRF on 1 March, the company’s global chief executive officer Pedro Faria said the company had invested more than $2bn in 2015 “in order to improve BRF and improve its agility”.