Minerva Outlook Revised To Stable From Positive On Acquisition Announcement; Global And National Scale Ratings Affirmed

Brazil-based protein producer Minerva, through some of its subsidiaries, has announced the acquisition of JBS' beef and processed food assets in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay totaling $300 million. Although the acquisition will significantly increase Minerva's production capacity and geographic diversification, it will weaken the leverage ratios in the short to medium term, which diminishes our previous expectation of a potential upgrade in the short term. We're revising the outlook to stable from positive, and affirming our 'BB-' global scale and 'brA+' national scale ratings on the company. The stable outlook now reflects our expectation that the company's debt reduction will take more time than we previously expected due to the acquisition. SAO PAULO (S&P Global Ratings) June 7, 2017--S&P Global

...+ Brazil-based protein producer Minerva, through some of its subsidiaries, has announced the acquisition of JBS' beef and processed food assets in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay totaling $300 million. + Although the acquisition will significantly increase Minerva's production capacity and geographic diversification, it will weaken the leverage ratios in the short to medium term, which diminishes our previous expectation of a potential upgrade in the short term. + We're revising the outlook to stable from positive, and affirming our '##-' global scale and 'brA+' national scale ratings on the company. + The stable outlook now reflects our expectation that the company's debt reduction will take more time than we previously expected due to the acquisition. SAO PAULO (S&P Global Ratings) June 7, 2017--S&P Global Ratings revised the outlook on Minerva S.A. to stable from positive. At the same time, we affirmed our '##-' global scale and 'brA+' national scale corporate credit ratings on the...

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