Prima Foods acquired the plant operated by Frialto in Rondônia in a transaction that is still awaiting approval from Brazil’s competition authority.
Prima Foods, a meat company controlled by businessman Júnior Friboi, reached an agreement to acquire the meatpacking plant owned by the Frialto group in Ji-Paraná, in the Brazilian state of Rondônia, The AgriBiz reported. Following the transaction, the Bellincanta family —which owns Frialto— will cease operating in the state, although it will retain three other plants in Mato Grosso: Sinop, Matupá and Nova Canaã.
The plant changing hands has slaughter capacity of around 900 head per day. The transaction still requires approval from Cade, Brazil’s competition authority.
Prima Foods owns Mataboi, a Minas Gerais-based meatpacker founded in 1949, and operates three plants in the states of Minas Gerais, Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul. Júnior Friboi has controlled the company since 2015, when he returned to the meat industry after leaving JBS —the world’s largest meat processor, founded by his brothers Joesley and Wesley Batista— in 2013.
The acquisition comes several months after Júnior Friboi’s attempt to buy Fazenda Conforto, one of Brazil’s largest feedlots, fell through.
