JBS sells Moy Park to JBS!

Brazilian meatpacker JBS, on an asset selling spree to pay fines after executives admitted bribing politicians in Brazil, has announced it is selling Northern Ireland based Moy Park to Pilgrims Pride, a company in which JBS has a 78% shareholding.

Poultry processor Moy Park has 13 plants in the UK, Ireland, France and the Netherlands and processes 5.7 million birds per week. U.S. based Pilgrims Pride will use Moy Park as a platform to expand its operations in Europe.
 
The transaction comes as former JBS chairman Joesley Batista is arrested in Brazil after the temporary suspension of his immunity from prosecution granted in a plea bargaining agreement signed in May following the admission that executives had been bribing politicians. The arrest follows allegations that Batista omitted information from his testimony submitted to prosecutors earlier this year.

Between 2006 and 2011 JBS grew to be the world's largest meat packer assisted by $millions in bribes to politicians and sweetheart deals with the Brazilian State Development bank BNDES.