Brazilian firm agrees to acquire Swift & Co

Private equity firm HM Capital Partners LLC and J&F Participações SA, which owns 77 percent of Brazil’s JBS SA, Latin America’s largest beef processor, have signed a definitive agreement under which J&F will acquire meat processor Swift & Co. The all-cash transaction has an enterprise value of about $1.4 billion.

The transaction value includes $225 million in cash for all Swift stock held by HM Capital and Booth Creek Management Corp, its investment partner in the September 2002 acquisition of Swift from ConAgra Foods Inc. Also included are the assumption by J&F of approximately $1.2 billion in Swift debt plus all transaction-related expenses.

Completion of the transaction is subject to Hart-Scott-Rodino and other antitrust reviews and customary closing conditions. It is expected to occur in mid-July 2007.