The world's biggest food company plans to beef up in America
Consumers outside Brazil may not be familiar with JBS, even though many will have tasted its products. But as the meat-packing colossus prepared to list on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on June 13th, its American competitors were quivering in their cowboy boots. The listing is designed to allow JBS, already the world's biggest food company by revenue, to gobble up even more market share by tapping cheaper capital and attracting new investors. Yet it could also leave the firm vulnerable to litigation from its broad range of enemies, who include environmentalists as well as an unusual coalition of Republicans and Democrats.
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Daily Mirror
7 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Air India crash piles fresh turmoil on beleaguered Boeing in devastating new low
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However, the company's troubles are no longer isolated to individual models or accidents, they have grown into a pattern of systemic failure. The plane maker's issues with safety and oversight have now, once again, come under renewed global scrutiny after the crash, which killed more than 260 people on board and on the ground. The Indian-led investigation into the crash will involve the UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch, the US National Transportation Safety Board, and Boeing itself. In a statement, Boeing said its 'thoughts are with the passengers, crew, first responders and all affected' and added that it was working closely with Air India and investigators. Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said, 'Our deepest condolences go out to the loved ones of the passengers and crew,' and pledged full support for the crash investigation. Although officials say it's too early to determine the cause, the incident is already sparking renewed questions about Boeing's culture and aircraft quality. Only after investigators recover the plane's flight data and cockpit voice recorders, commonly known as black boxes, will a much clearer picture emerge. Despite no immediate evidence of a manufacturing or design flaw in this latest crash, Boeing's name is again tied to an aviation tragedy, deepening the perception of a company in freefall. The timing is dire for Boeing, which has endured an unprecedented series of blows over the past six years. Most notably, the company is still battling the fallout from the 2018 and 2019 crashes of its 737 Max aircraft in Indonesia and Ethiopia, which killed 346 people. Those disasters were later traced to a software malfunction. America's FAA grounded the Max fleet worldwide for nearly 18 months. Last month, Boeing agreed to pay $1.1 billion (£810 million) in a settlement with the US Department of Justice to avoid criminal prosecution over the Max crashes. It is a deal that lawyers for the victims' families called 'morally repugnant.' 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Daily Record
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49ers stance on Rangers Amazon Prime documentary revealed after Wrexham blockbuster
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Reuters
an hour ago
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Brazil beef barons' Wall Street listing caps a return from exile
GUARUJA, Brazil, June 13 - Brazilian meatpacker JBS begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, capping a stunning comeback by brothers Joesley and Wesley Batista less than a decade after they were jailed in a record-breaking corruption scandal and forced into the backseat of their global food empire. A U.S. listing for the world's biggest meatpacker, which the company has sought since 2009, comes as the brothers, now back on the board of JBS, have also recovered much of their vaunted influence among Brazil's political elite. Their prominence was on display on Saturday when Wesley Batista, fresh off a trip to Paris with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, took the stage to discuss the economic outlook with Brazil's central bank chief and senior bankers. Batista was in good spirits, pushing back against some of the criticism that Brazilian business leaders have leveled against Lula's leftist government. "We need to look at what's working too, because everyone here is making investment plans and growing," he told the beachside gathering in Sao Paulo state, drawing applause. Few business leaders can match the brothers' access in the capital Brasilia. Lula's public agenda shows that one or both have appeared alongside the president during at least five public events since last year. They have also held several private meetings with Lula and his ministers, two people with knowledge of the cabinet's private schedules said. JBS said its meetings with public officials adhere to its code of conduct. The presidential press office did not respond to questions about the meetings. It is a far cry from the brothers' nadir nearly a decade ago, when they confessed to bribing hundreds of politicians, stepped away from their corporate empire and spent months in jail fighting insider trading allegations. "They're back because they're investing," said a person close to Brazil's presidency. JBS operates hundreds of meatpacking plants across more than 20 countries, rivaling Tyson Foods (TSN.N), opens new tab in the U.S. beef market and ranking among Brazil's biggest companies by revenue and employment. The Batistas' parent company, J&F, has expanded across the Brazilian economy into banking, energy and logistics. A $5 million donation by JBS subsidiary Pilgrim's Pride (PPC.O), opens new tab to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee underscored the growing global reach of their influence. U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren grilled JBS in a public letter last month, suggesting the donation and subsequent approval of the U.S. listing by the Securities Exchange Commission within months "raise serious concerns about a potential quid-pro-quo arrangement." In response to questions about the donation, JBS said that Pilgrim's "has a long bipartisan history of participating in the civic process." The brothers' rehabilitation extends beyond politics. After years embroiled in Brazil's biggest-ever corruption scandal, Operation Car Wash, J&F has secured a court order suspending a $2 billion fine for its role in the scheme. At the height of the scandal, the brothers admitted to bribing some 1,800 politicians. In 2017, Joesley Batista recorded a conversation allegedly discussing a bribery scheme with then-President Michel Temer as part of a plea bargain deal. The Batista brothers, who stepped away from JBS leadership positions during stretches of the scandal, were later arrested for alleged insider trading based on that sealed plea deal. They were later acquitted in the case. In 2023, a Brazilian Supreme Court justice suspended the fine against J&F in their plea deal, accepting the argument that prosecutors were biased at the time. The case awaits wider review by the court. "The conflicts of the past were well handled in a conciliatory way," said Fabio Medina Osorio, Brazil's solicitor general during the Temer administration.
