JBS of Brazil, big and getting bigger, would buy 64% of bankrupt Pilgrim's Pride if judge says OK

Pilgrim's Pride Corp., whose bankruptcy has left many chicken farmers in financial peril, would sell 64 percent of its stock to beef giant JBS, which meanwhile has "reached an all-stock deal with a Brazilian beef-industry rival -- setting the stage for a shake-up in the global meat business," The Wall Street Journal reports.

If a bankruptcy judge approved, the deal would "create a new rival to Tyson Foods Inc., the nation's largest meat company with beef, chicken and pork operations," report Mike Spector, Lauren Etter and Alastair Stewart. "JBS is among the world's largest meat producers and has been on a global acquisition binge designed to make it the biggest. . . . Ranchers and chicken farmers fret that greater industry concentration could undermine their clout and depress prices for their animals." (Read more)