An Emerging Market Beef Bond Is About to Escape the Herd
How JBS went from a small-time butcher shop to the biggest foreign meat company on American soil.
Photographer: Balazs Gardi for Bloomberg BusinessweekJBS SA began as a humble butcher shop in Anapolis, Brazil and grew to become the world’s biggest producer of beef and chicken. With operations already spanning Argentina to Australia, it recently announced a restructuring that may see it come even looser from its Brazilian moorings.
The company announced plans to create a New York-listed unit earlier this month, and said it may shift its corporate registration to Ireland with the aim of saving on financing costs.
“JBS doesn’t have the same access to capital as other global players,” Wesley Batista, the company's CEO, said in an interview with Bloomberg News this week. "We’re seeking a structure that better reflects the company JBS has become."
He may be on to something, according to Citigroup Inc. credit strategists Eric Ollom and Ayoti Mittra.