Brazilian-headquartered Minerva foods, one of South America’s largest meat exporters, has announced its first acquisitions in Australia.

It has acquired two sheepmeat processing factories, Sharke Lake and Great Eastern Abattoir, both close to the west coast of Australia. They have a projected slaughter capacity of 1m sheep per year.

The business will be operated on a joint venture basis between Minerva and SALIC in a $35m investment, with Minerva controlling 65% of the business. Minerva says that the investment will help service its customers in the Asian and Middle Eastern markets.

This acquisition is a further step in Brazilian involvement in Australia. JBS has 46 different locations across Australia including feedlots,and processing of different species, with two recent acquisitions – Rivalea, the largest pig processor, and Huon Aquaculture, Australia’s second-largest salmon producer