Pilgrim's Pride Adds European Poultry Company Moy Park

Poultry giant Pilgrim's Pride will pay its parent company some $1.3 billion in cash and debt to move European counterpart Moy Park under its corporate umbrella.

Pilgrim's Pride officials said in a statement that its acquisition of Moy Park — also owned by Brazilian meat giant JBS — will improve chicken profit margins, bolster its prepared foods portfolio and enable the company "to become a global player."

The company expects to realize $50 million in savings from the deal, which comes as JBS deals with the fallout from a massive political corruption scandal in Brazil — including, Reuters noted, the sale of numerous assets.

"Following our successful acquisitions of GNP and the assets in Mexico, Moy Park represents a logical next step in the evolution of our geographical and brands footprint," Pilgrim's CEO Bill Lovette said in a statement. "The acquisition gives us access to the attractive U.K. and European markets, which advances our strategy of diversifying our portfolio to be more global while reducing volatility across our businesses."

Moy Park officials, meanwhile, said that the move would accelerate its growth plans and "leverage Pilgrim's expertise and operational excellence.” The company, based in Northern Ireland, operates 13 processing plants in Ireland, the U.K., France and the Netherlands.

"Pilgrim's is one of the leading chicken producers in the world with a proven track record and we see great opportunities for Moy Park as part of this successful business," said chief executive Janet McCollum.