Brazilian meatpackers BRF and Marfrig call off merger talks

Brazilian firms BRF and Marfrig Global Foods have reportedly called off possible merger talks, which have been ongoing since last month.

The two companies stated in securities filings that they have formally ended talks as they could not agree on the governance structure of the potentially merged company.

Key stakeholders, including the founding family members of BRF, Fontana and Furlan, as well as pension funds such as Previ and Petros, opposed the proposed merger.

They were against the merger due to the proposed prominence of Marcos Molina, Marfrig founder and chairman, in the management of the future company.

Currently, Molina holds a 30% stake in Marfrig and would own 5% in the combined entity.

Molina was reportedly seeking to acquire additional Marfrig shares to own a larger proportion of the combined company.

If the proposed merger was successful, it would have created one of the world’s largest meat producers.

Last month, BRF and Marfrig reportedly began talks to merge their businesses to create one of the largest meat processing companies in the world.

According to Brazilian food conglomerate BRF, it signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Marfig, pursuant to which they entered a proposed 90-day negotiation period to study and define the terms of a potential deal.