(Bloomberg) – The best egg producer in South America, fresh from a sale of an interest of 50% in the company to meat producer JBS SA, said it weighs a merger or acquisition to enter the American market.
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“There is no option excluded,” said Márcio Utsch, Chief Executive Officer of Mantiqueira Brasil, in an interview. “It can be done through local production or partnerships with companies that are already active on the market.”
The potential expansion follows on Monday’s announcement that JBS has purchased 50% control from Mantiqueira Brasil, the first trip in the egg sector. That movement – as well as the international plans – comes at a time when concern about the spread of bird flu in the US, causes shortages, which increases egg prices.
Mantiqueira prioritizing the US as a new market, allowing it to expand beyond the Middle East, Africa, Asia and South America, said Utsch, a former CEO at Alpargatas, owner of the Flip-Flops brand Havaianas.
The company wants to produce cage -free eggs in the US, a category that makes 15% of Mantiqueira’s turnover in Brazil, said Utsch. As part of the growth strategy, Murilo Pinto, son of Mantiqueira’s founder and chairman Leandro Pinto, is appointed CEO of Mantiqueira USA.
The American egg market is currently in unrest, with stocks limited by an outbreak of bird flu that has led to rising prices in supermarkets, while also shares of American producers such as Cal-Maine Foods Inc.
At the same time, the demand has grown worldwide as more consumers see eggs as a source of healthy protein, said JBS Chief Executive Officer Gilberto Tomazoni in a separate interview.
As the world’s largest chicken producer, JBS could use his poultry activities in the US, the largest market, as well as in Brazil, Mexico and Europe, to expand the new egg sector, Tomazoni said. He noted that both the production of eggs and the poultry have various inputs in common.
“The knowledge about other markets and countries is one of the points that JBS can help and share knowledge,” said Utsch.
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