SÃO PAULO, Brazil – JBS S.A. announced on Jan. 18 that the company's subsidiaries, JBS USA, LLC and JBS USA Finance Inc. will sell $400 million in debt securities, or bonds, to improve its debt profile. The bonds expire in 2020.

"With this intended issuance, JBS S.A. aims to give continuity to the process of rebalancing its debt which was begun in May 2011," the company said in a news release.

The company added that the money would be used to pay down short-term debt, which had higher costs. JBS did not give details about the yield or banks involved.