Prima Foods, the beef producer controlled by businessman Júnior Friboi, agreed to acquire Frialto’s slaughterhouse in Ji-Paraná, in Brazil’s northern state of Rondônia, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The plant can slaughter about 900 cattle a day, one person said. The transaction will expand Prima Foods’ processing footprint into Rondônia and mark Frialto’s exit from the state.
The acquisition is subject to approval by Cade, Brazil’s antitrust regulator.
Frialto, a midsize beef processor controlled by the Bellincanta family, has roots in Mato Grosso. After selling the Ji-Paraná operation, it will retain three plants in the state, in Sinop, Matupá and Nova Canaã.
Prima Foods owns Mataboi, a longstanding beef processor founded in Minas Gerais in 1949. It currently operates slaughterhouses in Araguari, Minas Gerais; Santa Fé de Goiás, Goiás; and Cassilândia, Mato Grosso do Sul.
Júnior Friboi has controlled Prima Foods since 2015, when he returned to the meat industry. The businessman, a brother of JBS controlling shareholders Joesley and Wesley Batista, sold his stake in JBS in March 2013.
The Ji-Paraná deal comes months after Júnior Friboi’s attempt to acquire Fazenda Conforto, one of Brazil’s largest cattle feedlots, fell through.
Prima Foods did not respond to requests for comment.
This story was translated with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by The AgriBiz editorial staff.
