São Paulo – The JBS group, which operates in the meat industry, has announced that its owner, J&F Holding, alongside company MCL Empreendimentos, the pension fund for employees of the Brazilian Savings Bank (Funcef) and the welfare fund for employees of the Brazilian state-owned oil company (Petros) are going to launch, next Monday (21), company Florestal Brasil S.A., which will operate in the reforestation sector. The company will have a capital of 1 billion reais (US$ 552 million), to be equally divided among its four partners.
According to a press release issued by the JBS group, the company is going to invest in the planting of forests in degraded areas, particularly in the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul. The two states account for a substantial share of Brazilian beef cattle farming. The goal, according to the release, is to encourage the creation of sustainable industry and service hubs in Midwest Brazil.
The release informs that the company will have 2,000 employees and should generate another 4,000 indirect jobs. It will operate in an area of 400,000 hectares, of which 152,000 hectares will be set apart for environmental preservation by law.
In addition to the reforestation of degraded areas, the company’s business plan includes the recuperation of native forests in areas of permanent preservation and legal reserves, i.e., of the 152,000 hectares that must be preserved by law.
JBS is the world’s largest business group in the beef industry. Last week, the company announced a merger with another large Brazilian slaughterhouse, Bertin, and the purchase of the United States-based Pilgrim’s Pride, which operates in the chicken industry. After the consolidation of operations, the company will become the world’s largest in the meat industry as a whole, overtaking Tyson Foods.
The Petros and Funcef foundations are respectively the second and third largest pension funds in Brazil and, according to the release, are investing in reforestation of degraded areas for the first time ever.
MCL Empreendimentos, in turn, operates in the fields of cattle farming, reforestation and real estate. The partnership was structured by Vitória Asset Management.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
