JBS, the world’s largest meat processor, is rumoured to be lining up takeover bids for two businesses in New Zealand and a third in Australia that would further consolidate its operations there.

The Brazilian meat processing giant is said to be preparing an offer of more than €560m for Tegel Foods, one of the largest poultry processors based in New Zealand. Tegel Foods is owned by an Asian private equity firm that has recently been weighing up an IPO for the New Zealand poultry business.

At the same time, JBS is said to be in the final shake-up to acquire the family-owned Kidman & Co, a vast beef empire based in Australia stretching across more than 10m hectares that includes a herd of 185,000 beef cattle.

The Kidman family empire, comprising the world’s largest private land holding not possessed by a state or monarch, was brought to the market earlier this year at an asking price of €223m.

JBS is also thought to be interested in taking a stake in Silver Fern Farms, New Zealand’s largest meat processor. Silver Fern is thought to be offering a stake in its business as it seeks up to €60m in funding to reduce its net debt.

Consolidate

Were JBS to complete these acquisitions, it would further consolidate its dominant position in Australia and New Zealand, giving it a strategic location from which to expand into Asia.

The aggressive acquisition strategy adopted by JBS over the past decade has allowed the company to expand at a phenomenal rate. The business has grown from a $1bn private company mainly based in Brazil to the world’s largest meat processor.

This year alone, JBS has been extremely active buying up Moy Park for €1.3bn in June before acquiring Cargill’s pork division, also for €1.3bn, less than a month later in July. The Moy Park acquisition has given the Brazilian giant a foothold in Europe for the first time.

Originally a private family-owned company, JBS was floated on the Brazilian stock exchange in 2007. Since then, JBS’s main funding partner has been the Brazilian Economic Development Bank (BNDES), a state owned investment bank which holds a 30% stake in the company.