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| Bill Lovette, CEO of Pilgrim's Pride |
“We are pleased to announce the acquisition of Moy Park, which will position Pilgrim’s to become a global player, with an improved and more stable margin profile on the chicken business and an expanded portfolio of prepared foods,” said Bill Lovette, CEO of Pilgrim’s Pride. “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.
“The acquisition gives us access to the attractive UK and European markets, which advances our strategy of diversifying our portfolio to be more global while reducing volatility across our businesses. We will have new business opportunities through the addition of Moy Park’s fully integrated poultry production platform and its strong presence in prepared foods.”
Moy Park has seven processing plants, four focused on the primary processing of poultry and three value-added plants that manufacture cooked, marinated and sliced products. The company markets two consumer brands under the Moy Park Chicken and O’Kane names.
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| Janet McCollum, CEO of Moy Park |
“Joining Pilgrim’s gives us the opportunity to accelerate our growth plans, share best practices and leverage Pilgrim’s expertise and operational excellence,” said Janet McCollum, CEO of Moy Park. “Moy Park will provide Pilgrim’s with a platform for growth in Europe as well as access to innovation and increased exposure to prepared foods.”
Pilgrim’s Pride management expects the acquisition to be immediately accretive to earnings and that the company will achieve approximately $50 million in annualized synergies during the next two years.
Moy Park headquarters will remain in Craigavon, Northern Ireland, and its current management team will continue to run the company, according to Pilgrim’s Pride.
