Brazilian meatpacker Marfrig Global Foods SA aims to appoint its own board members at food processing business BRF SA, it said on Monday, having built a stake of about 33% in the company.
Marfrig, currently BRF’s largest shareholder, said in a securities filing it has decided to exercise its right to influence BRF’s management, after repeatedly saying it was not aiming to do so. It did not say how many directors it plans to appoint.
Major beef producer Marfrig started building a stake in poultry and pork processor BRF in May 2021 but said at the time the move was aimed at diversifying its holdings rather than influencing management.
BRF recently raised 5.4 billion reais ($1.05 billion) in a follow-on share offering, which led market players to speculate about whether Marfrig could acquire a controlling stake without the risk of triggering a poison pill defense to block such a move.
BRF’s by-laws demand that an investor that reaches a 33.33% stake in the company must make a tender offer for all of its remaining shares.
However, Marfrig shareholders ended up approving it to only take part in the offering within the “limit of its stake in BRF’s capital,” which is currently 33.25%.
Marfrig’s latest move comes almost three years after previous failed merger talks between the two companies.
($1 = 5.1208 reais) (Reporting by Gabriel Araujo Editing by David Goodman, Kirsten Donovan)
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