The settlement disclosed late on Friday culminated nearly a decade of litigation in federal court in Colorado against Pilgrim’s Pride, one of the largest U.S. poultry processors.

The 2016 lawsuit accused Colorado-based Pilgrim’s Pride of concealing an industry-wide price-fixing scheme to charge artificially high prices for chicken. The shareholders said Pilgrim’s Pride misrepresented that its profitability was based on its product mix, pricing strategy and other factors.

The settlement covers purchases of stock in the company between February 2014 and November 2016. U.S. District Judge R. Brooke Jackson must approve the deal.

Pilgrim’s Pride, owned mainly by Brazil’s JBS SA, and a lead attorney for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Pilgrim’s Pride has denied the claims and did not admit wrongdoing in agreeing to settle.

The plaintiffs’ lawyers said the estimated average settlement recovery is $0.59 per affected share, before deductions of fees and expenses.

The class attorneys said they would seek up to 33.3 per cent, or about $13.8 million (C$19.8 million), in legal fees from the settlement fund.

Pilgrim’s Pride has earlier faced antitrust lawsuits over pricing and competition.

The company in 2021 pleaded guilty in federal court and was ordered to pay a $107.9 million (C$155.2 million) fine, resolving U.S. charges that it conspired to fix chicken prices.

In 2023, the meat processor agreed to pay $100 million to settle claims that it conspired with rivals to underpay chicken farmers.

—Reporting by Mike Scarcella

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JBS, which released financial results on Tuesday that were below analysts expectations, said Seara and the U.S. beef division presented the biggest challenges for the company last year, when it lost about 1 billion reais (C$272.3 million) compared with a 15.457 billion real annual profit (C$4.21 billion) in 2022.

JBS shares dropped about three per cent in early trading after the results, which were also negatively affected by global poultry oversupplies and high grain prices, especially in the first half of 2023.

“JBS reported what we view as good (Q4) results, tough high market expectations could drive a negative price reaction,” Goldman Sachs told clients.

Goldman said JBS’ fourth-quarter earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was in line with its expectations, even as the U.S. beef division “printed negative profitability.”

The weakness of the U.S. beef unit, the company’s largest by sales, was offset by the results of Pilgrim’s Pride and the strength of operations in Australia and the beef business in Brazil, Goldman noted.

“We remain constructive on the forward, and expect momentum to be supported by PPC, Australia, (the) U.S. pork (division) and Seara,” Goldman analysts wrote.

In the United States, a lack of cattle supplies made the company’s EBITDA negative in the fourth quarter of 2023 for that division.

JBS managers, who addressed analysts in a conference call to discuss results, said the U.S. beef segment will continue to face headwinds this year.

Regarding the Seara division, CEO Gilberto Tomazoni said it is poised to report double-digit margins as early as the first quarter as the company identified issues and is executing a plan to make industrial processes more efficient.

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Attorney General Letitia James said JBS USA Food Co, the Brazilian company’s American-based unit, has “no viable plan” to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, making its stated commitment to achieving that goal false and misleading.

James said JBS has admitted its “Net Zero by 2040” commitment did not incorporate the vast majority of greenhouse gas emissions from its supply chain, including from deforestation in the Amazon.

She also said reaching the goal was “infeasible” given JBS’ plan to increase production and therefore its carbon footprint, on top of greenhouse gas emissions that had by 2021 exceeded those of the entire country of Ireland.

“Families [are] willing to spend more of their hard-earned money on products from brands that are better for the environment,” James said in a statement. “JBS USA’s greenwashing exploits the pocketbooks of everyday Americans and the promise of a healthy planet for future generations.”

The lawsuit filed in a New York state court in Manhattan seeks a $5,000 civil fine per violation of state business laws, and to recoup ill-gotten gains from false sustainability claims.

JBS’s businesses include Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation, one of the largest U.S. chicken producers.

In a statement, JBS said it disagreed with the lawsuit. It also pledged to continue partnering with farmers, ranchers and others toward a “more sustainable future for agriculture” that uses fewer resources and reduces its environmental impact.

The company generated about $53.5 billion of revenue in the first nine months of 2023, about 59 per cent of which came from North America and Central America.

JBS shares trade in Brazil. The company has been seeking to list its shares in the United States.

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In April all of JBS operations will meet U.S. auditing and compliance requirements under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, JBS management told analysts on a call to discuss fourth-quarter results, moving one step closer to an initial public offering (IPO) of the unit.

“It is the best option to unlock value,” JBS chairman and investor relations officer Jeremiah O’Callaghan said.

In October, the company pulled a planned US$500 million U.S. IPO of JBS Foods International after the scandals in Brazil hurt investor interest in the deal.

Among the international operations that would have been included in JBS’s IPO is its Brooks, Alta. beef packing plant, one of Canada’s largest, with capacity to process up to 4,200 head of cattle per day.

O’Callaghan on Thursday said JBS is still dealing with fallout from plea deals struck by the company’s former chairman and CEO, who admitted to bribing scores of Brazilian politicians. He said JBS was running an internal investigation as part of collaboration efforts with Brazilian and U.S. authorities.

JBS reported an unexpected fourth-quarter net loss late on Wednesday due to currency and hedging effects, as well as weakness at its Brazil beef unit, but overall operational performance remained strong, boosting optimism about the potential U.S. listing.

Analysts at JPMorgan highlighted strong cash flow and the increasingly profitable U.S. beef division in a note to clients suggesting shares could recover from recent underperformance.

JBS shares rose as much as 5.2 per cent in Sao Paulo, trading to 9.36 reais (C$3.66).

Strong cash flow helped the company lower its ratio of net debt to EBITDA to 3.38, the lowest in the industry, according to management.

“We did it faster and better than planned,” said chief operating officer Gilberto Tomazoni, regarding the deleveraging efforts. He said the company will continue reducing net debt through cash generation until reaching a target ratio of two times EBITDA by 2019.

JBS said global demand for animal protein will grow steadily through 2030, and its beef and leather operations in South America are the only units that are not performing well.

“We outperformed our competitors in each of the segments in each of the markets where we operate,” said Andre Nogueira, chief executive of the U.S. business. “From the viewpoint of our JBS USA unit, 2018 will be even better than 2017,” he added.

— Reporting for Reuters by Ana Mano and Paula Laier.

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The long-planned initial public offering of its processed food subsidiary JBS Foods International BV was postponed in October on fallout from corruption scandals that hurt investor demand.

“The IPO is our priority, we have not taken it off the radar,” Gilberto Tomazoni, head of operations, said during an event with investors and analysts in Sao Paulo.

The group is seeking to reduce the company’s cost of capital, which does not reflect the company’s geographical diversification, the executive said. Only 24 per cent of the company’s revenue is obtained in Brazil.

Brothers and controlling shareholders Wesley and Joesley Batista were arrested in September in connection with insider trading and other offenses related to their plea deal, in which they accused nearly 2,000 politicians of taking bribes to advance the company’s business interests.

Tomazoni expects the company to reduce its debt levels in coming months through cash generation and asset sales. Net debt fell on the third quarter to 3.42 times its earnings before interest, taxes depreciation and amortization, a common gauge of operational profitability known as EBITDA, from 4.16 times in the prior quarter.

In Brazil, JBS’ Seara processed foods division is raising average prices in the country to take advantage of the country’s economic recovery, Tomazoni said.

Negotiations to sell Five Rivers Cattle Feeding LLC, the last asset JBS put on sale since the group was ensnared in a corruption scandal, will be concluded shortly, he said.

JBS reached a separate deal in July to sell its Canadian cattle feedlot at Brooks, Alta., to MCF Holdings, an arm of livestock trading firm Nilsson Bros. The Brooks feedlot had been part of Five Rivers, which still includes feedyards in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona and Idaho.

JBS’s remaining major Canadian asset, its nearby beef packing plant at Brooks, would be among the businesses included in a U.S. IPO.

— Reporting for Reuters by Aluisio Alves; writing by Ana Mano. Includes files from AGCanada.com Network staff.

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In a Friday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, JBS Foods International requested a withdrawal of the IPO. While neither company gave a new timetable for the IPO, JBS said in a statement to Reuters that a U.S. listing of JBS Foods “is the best way possible to maximize shareholder value.”

Parent JBS and the processed food subsidiary first announced plans for a U.S. offering on Dec. 5. Sao Paulo-based JBS, the world’s No. 1 meatpacker, reaffirmed plans to list the subsidiary in August, saying a transaction could take place by the end of next year.

The proposal for the JBS Foods International IPO was first put to test in March, after a scandal over an alleged bribery of health officials triggered bans on Brazilian meat exports. Two months later, two members of the family that controls JBS agreed to a plea bargain deal in Brazil relating to a corruption probe.

A collapse of the plan is a setback for Brazil’s billionaire Batista family, which owns 42 per cent of JBS and saw the IPO as a way to improve JBS’s global standing. The transaction was seen as a way to help decouple JBS’s businesses from Brazil — where reputational issues have impaired share performance in recent months.

Reuters reported in March and in May, shortly after the food safety and corruption scandals, respectively, that JBS would press ahead with the US$1 billion IPO plan despite dwindling investor confidence.

Common shares fell 0.6 per cent to 8.60 reais (C$3.39) on Monday. The stock is down 25 per cent so far this year.

Brothers Wesley and Joesley Batista were arrested last month in connection with insider trading and other offenses related to their plea deal. Wesley, the elder of them and also JBS’s former chief executive, quit as a result.

Both brothers will face trial for carrying out stock and foreign exchange transactions based on knowledge of their plea deal, a federal court confirmed on Monday. Both have been charged last week on the same case.

Both Batistas worked personally on the refinancing of 21 billion reais (C$8.3 billion) in short-term debt of JBS and spearheaded the sale of several assets, including the company’s cattle feedlot at Brooks, Alta.

Among the international operations that would have been included in the JBS IPO is one of Canada’s biggest beef packing plants, also at Brooks, with capacity to process up to 4,200 head of cattle per day.

— Reporting for Reuters by Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Jake Spring.

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Executives at Sao Paulo-based JBS were worried about the impact that the probe into alleged bribery of Brazilian health officials had on investors, the sources said.

In the “Weak Flesh” probe, federal police accused JBS and dozens of peers of paying inspectors to overlook food safety procedures and 59 people have been charged with crimes.

The investigation caused several countries to ban imports of Brazilian meat for about a week. JBS has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and insisted there that there was no problem with product quality.

The scandal broke weeks before JBS was due to launch the initial public offering of JBS Foods International BV, which could raise about US$1 billion and help accelerate expansion outside Brazil.

The IPO could be put on hold until the impact of the probe on JBS Foods International can be better gauged, one source said. JBS has kept Barclays Plc as a leading underwriter for the transaction and could engage more banks once the company sets a new time frame for the offering, the sources said.

One of the sources said waiting could be beneficial to the IPO’s potential pricing. The media office of JBS declined to comment.

JBS shares rose 3.6 per cent on Wednesday, to 11.45 reais (C$4.94), turning previous year-to-date loss into a 0.32 per cent rise.

The delay is another blow in JBS’s efforts to implement a reorganization plan aimed at transforming it into a global food processor. The JBS Foods International IPO plan was announced last December.

Previously, JBS was forced to scrap a plan to relocate international operations to Ireland after the investment arm of Brazil’s state development bank BNDES balked at it. Over two-thirds of JBS’ revenue come from operations outside Brazil.

Reuters reported on March 22, days after the investigation was launched, that JBS would press ahead with the IPO while seeking to shore up investor confidence with a campaign arguing the police probe misstated facts.

At the time, JBS or its advisers saw no pushback from potential investors.

Since then, JBS has resumed slaughtering at most of the 10 beef processing units that were shut down in the wake of the Weak Flesh probe.

— Tatiana Bautzer is a finance reporter for Reuters in Sao Paulo.

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A person involved in the deal told Reuters last week JBS had no intention of delaying the US$1 billion initial public offering (IPO) of JBS Foods International in New York, which it hopes to finalize in May or June.

Citing an unidentified JBS senior executive, Folha also reported that JBS is not considering firing workers after it temporarily suspended most its beef production in Brazil on weak demand after a scandal blocked exports to key foreign markets.

JBS is among dozens of firms targeted in an investigation by the Brazilian federal police on alleged bribery of government health inspectors and politicians.

A press representative for JBS declined to comment on the IPO plans, adding that the company is committed to preserving jobs in Brazil.

The company suspended beef production at 33 of its 36 plants in Brazil last week after some of the country’s biggest export markets banned imports of Brazilian meats. It will restart production this week at about two thirds of capacity.

On Saturday, China, Egypt and Chile lifted the suspensions, bringing hope of an end to a crisis that wiped off about one-fifth of the value of Brazilian pork and poultry exports last week.

Common shares of JBS rose 2.5 per cent on Monday after touching a 15-week low last week. They are still down 5.8 per cent since police announced the investigation on March 17.

JBS is awaiting new developments in export markets such as Hong Kong and the European Union, where import bans are still in place, before deciding whether to resume normal capacity in Brazil, according to the company’s press office.

— Reporting for Reuters by Bruno Federowski.

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Under the plan, the company’s global operations and Brazil-based food processor Seara Alimentos will regroup under a new Ireland-based company, JBS Foods International.

JBS USA and JBS SA asked holders of notes due between 2020 to 2025 to consent to some parts of the global reorganization proposed by JBS in May.

Holders who agreed to the consent solicitation by the expiration date of August 16 will receive a cash payment of $1.25 per $1,000 principal amount (all figures US$).

The plan, which involves listing JBS Foods International in New York, also requires approvals from shareholders and regulators.

JBS USA has been a major player in the Canadian beef market since 2013, when it bought the former XL Foods packing plant and Lakeside Feeders operation at Brooks, Alta.

— Reporting for Thomson Reuters’ International Financing Review by Paul Kilby.

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JBS, the world’s biggest meat packer, lost 2.741 billion reais (C$1.02 billion) on currency hedging costs and poor results on the company’s U.S. cattle operations. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected a loss of 1.1 billion reais.

CEO Wesley Batista said the company had reduced its hedging position since late March and that the U.S. cattle cycle is improving, meaning the company should avoid a loss in the second quarter.

Sao Paulo-based JBS said Wednesday it will create JBS Foods International, an Ireland-based company whose assets will encompass its global operations, including its beef plant at Brooks, Alta.

The international company would also include JBS’s Brazil-based food processing firm Seara Alimentos.

A separate publicly-traded company, JBS Brazil, would continue to hold JBS’s Brazilian beef, biodiesel, collagen and carrier businesses plus its global leather business.

The company said it expects the reorganization to help improve its access to international equity and debt capital markets, allowing it to raise further financing to support operations while lowering its cost of capital.

JBS shares jumped 17.3 per cent, leading gains on the Bovespa index. Analysts at Brokerage Brasil Plural said the change diminished JBS’s capital costs, unlocking shareholder value.

JBS is not focused on acquisitions in 2016, but rather on consolidating its recent purchases and reducing leverage closer to two times its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), said Batista, who under the planned reorganization would remain CEO of the global business.

EBITDA totaled 2.137 billion reais in the quarter, down 22.5 per cent from a year earlier.

Batista also said the Brazilian Senate’s decision to put President Dilma Rousseff on trial, removing her from office for up to six months, is positive for the Brazilian market and that the Brazilian real would continue to strengthen.

JBS, once a family-run butcher, grew into a global player during the past decade, catching a wave of Workers Party policies to stimulate home-grown conglomerates.

— Reporting for Reuters by Silvio Cascione and Caroline Stauffer. Includes files from AGCanada.com Network staff.

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