Brazil's antitrust authority CADE said that the deal will be reviewed as an ordinary act rather than simple. The procedure could take up to 240 days.
The approval—or not—of the acquisition of Marfrig’s beef assets by Minerva Foods should take longer than the companies had previously expected. The companies submitted the deal to the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) in September, 2023, when an obstacle to approval was the incomplete composition of the tribunal. But even after the appointment and installation of four new members, the antitrust regulator’s General Superintendence (SG) considered the operation was not simple and, therefore, required more time study it.
The deal includes the acquisition of part of Marfrig Global Foods and Marfrig Chile’s beef and sheep business, encompassing slaughtering and deboning plants, plus a distribution center. The assets are located in Brazil, Argentina, and Chile.
The deal doesn’t mean Marfrig’s exit from the animal slaughtering segment, as the company will maintain other plants. Both companies told CADE that, for Marfrig, the deal is in line with the strategy of focusing on the production of branded meat and high value-added products. As for Minerva, the acquisition is “a strategic opportunity to complement its operations,” with a focus on savings through scale and efficiency gains.
When the companies announced the R$7.5 billion deal to the antitrust watchdog, they described it as a summarized concentration act, a format intended for operations that are considered to be simple, whose deadline in this case is 30 days. As the General Superintendence turned it into an ordinary act, the process can take up to 240 days. In addition, the new deadline considers January 22nd as the starting date, when the General Superintendence asked the companies for new information regarding the operation.
Source: Valor International
