November 15, 2008

US livestock groups sue to block JBS Swift, National merger

R-CALF USA and the Organisation for Competitive Markets on Thursday (November 13, 2008) filed litigation in US District Court against the proposed acquisition of National Beef Packing Co. by Brazilian-owned meatpacker JBS Swift & Co., according to an R-CALF release.

JBS Swift is a unit of JBS SA and is the world's largest meat packer.

The suit is separate from one the US Department of Justice, along with a total of 17 state attorneys general, filed against JBS over this matter in October. Thirteen states were part of the original Justice Department suit, and four others joined later.

Like the government suit, the R-CALF USA/OCM lawsuit seeks to block JBS' proposed acquisition of National Beef. The government's lawsuit focuses primarily on the impacts on fat cattle and consumers, while the latest suit "further addresses the impacts on feeders and other cattle" by reducing competition for fed cattle from independent cattle producers.