February 8, 2016

Brazil's BRF acquires Thai chicken producer

Chicken giant exporter BRF S.A. of Brazil has acquired chicken producer and exporter Golden Foods Siam (GFS) of Thailand for US$360 million, it was announced.

The acquisition of GFS, which is owned by Malaysian private equity firm Navis Capital Partners, would expand BRF's customer base and supply chain across the two continents.

The acquisition deal was completed on Feb. 2, following approval from competition authorities in Germany and Japan, according to Navis.

The acquisition includes GFS' "world-class" breeding and processing operations in Thailand and sales offices in the UK and the Netherlands.

GFS exports mainly to the UK, continental Europe, Japan and other Asian countries. It has a strong domestic market.

Since Navis acquired a controlling interest in GFS in 2009, it has doubled GFS' cooking capacity, increased primary chicken production by 70%, increased breeding capacity by 30% and completed a fully operating 7,000 tonne-per-week, state-of-the-art feedmill.

The company employs around 8,800 people.

BRF is one of the world's largest food companies, marketing its products under the brands Sadia, Perdigão and Qualy. It has around 100,000 employees, 35 industrial units in Brazil, nine plants abroad (six in Argentina, and one each in the UK, the Netherlands and the UAE) and more than 20 distribution centers. It currently exports its products to more than 120 countries.