JBS SA has withdrawn its proposal to purchase the outstanding shares it didn’t already own in Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., sending the U.S. company’s shares plummeting in late trading.
JBS, the world’s biggest meat company, failed to reach an agreement with Pilgrim’s Pride’s special committee on the proposal, according to a statement Thursday. Shares in Pilgrim’s Pride, the second-biggest U.S. chicken producer, fell as much as 18% after the end of regular trading in New York.
The news comes as meat companies have been criticized by the Biden Administration for earning big profits during the Covid-19 pandemic as consumers paid high prices for meat.
In August, JBS said that it was seeking to buy outstanding shares in Pilgrim’s Pride, just after two other poultry rivals announced a merger. That separate deal, which would join the third- and sixth-biggest U.S. chicken producers, should be investigated by the Justice Department, Senator Elizabeth Warren said earlier Thursday.
