Tyson Foods acquires 40% stake in Grupo Vibra

US corporation Tyson Foods has acquired a 40% stake in Brazilian poultry producer and exporter, Grupo Vibra for an undisclosed sum.

The deal is intended to expand Tyson Foods’ global presence and flexibility in serving customers. This investment is Tyson’s most recent attempt to expand the brand into international markets.

In addition to Brazil, Grupo Vibra is active in more than 50 countries around the world.

According to group president, international and chief administration officer for Tyson Foods, Donnie King, the investment aims to enable Tyson Foods to “access poultry supplies in Brazil to meet the growing needs of Brazilian customers and of priority demand markets in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.”

“It’s part of our strategy to develop a more flexible supply chain and mitigate the volatility of our previous model, which relied primarily on US exports.”

Flavio Sergio Wallauer, chairman of the board for Grupo Vibra said: “This agreement is the result of the mutual trust between our two companies and the goal of both companies to expand globally.”

The purchase follows on from Tyson’s acquisition of the Thai and European operations of Brazilian meat giant BRF last February and of meat manufacturer Keystone Foods in November last year.

The purchase in February saw Tyson acquire four poultry processing facilities in Thailand, one processing facility in the Netherlands and one processing facility in the United Kingdom. The acquisition of Keystone Foods, meanwhile, allowed the expansion of operations as Tyson Foods acquired six processing plants and an innovation centre in the US, as well as eight production facilities and three innovation centres in China, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Australia.

Each of these purchases have been made with the aim of strengthening Tyson’s presence in the protein product segment.