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M&P EXCLUSIVE: Wesley Batista on JBS acquisitions in the U.S.
The September issue of MEAT&POULTRY magazine will include an update on JBS USA one year after its acquisition of Swift & Co., based on an exclusive M&P interview with the firm’s CEO, Wesley Batista. During a candid conversation with M&P Contributing Editor Steve Kay that lasted more than three hours, Batista discussed the business strategy driving the Brazilian powerhouse as well as the challenges facing the company and the industry as a whole. The interview in its entirety will be published in the September issue of M&P and will also be published online at www.MEATPOULTRY.com. Below is a glimpse of the report as Batista discusses the acquisition of National Beef Packing and the Smithfield Beef Group. M&P: How confident are you that the Justice Department will allow JBS to acquire National Beef Packing and the Smithfield Beef Group as per the agreement announced March 4? Wesley Batista: We believe we have a strong argument both technically and in other ways. Look at what we have already done here. We have created more, not less, competition in the industry. We have stimulated competitiveness and efficiencies, and we have created more equity and less debt in the business. M&P: What about concerns that JBS will own two plants in two regions, in the Southwest and on the Southern Plains? WB: By technical, we mean the plants’ location. Tolleson (Smithfield’s plant in Arizona) and Brawley (National Beef’s plant in southern California) both kill fed Holsteins. But Tolleson also kills a lot of cows so it is a different business from Brawley. On the High Plains, we have Tyson and Cargill to compete with. Cargill has two plants in Texas, in Plainwell and Friona. So, the market will remain extremely competitive. The beef business is competitive by nature. The flexibility of the business goes up and down and allows companies to build capacity. 
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