JBS set to announce Pilgrim's Pride deal on September 8

Brazilian beef giant, JBS SA is set to announce as soon as next week the acquisition of Texas-based Pilgrim's  Pride, for a price north of US$2 billion, say several people familiar with the matter. The deal would pull the second-largest chicken company in the US out of a nine-month-old bankruptcy and shake up the global meat business.

JBS is one of the world largest meat producers and for several years has been on a global acquisition binge designed to make it the biggest. That aggressive effort, which caught the US meat industry by surprise, has been helped by financial aid from the Brazilian government.

Underlying the transaction are deep changes in the way consumers eat beef, pork and chicken. The recession has driven people out of restaurants which have lowered meat demand. Most major meat companies have cut production to their lowest level in 30 years. That helped push Pilgrim's Pride into bankruptcy in December.

JBS and Pilgrim Pride declined to comment.