Swift & Co. Sold to Brazilian Firm

A banner hanging inside the Brazilian headquarters of JBS SA, Latin America’s biggest meat producer, shows that the company has created the world’s largest beef and pork processor through its acquisition of Swift & Co. for $225 million. J&F Participacoes S.A., which controls JBS, won out over other bidders for Swift, which was highly sought after because not many meat-packaging plants are put up for sale in wake of U.S. industry consolidation, analysts said. Acquiring Swift “is a major step for our group in establishing a global presence,” JBS Chief Executive Officer Joesley Mendonca Batista said in a statement. Swift, headquartered about 50 miles north of Denver, is the third-largest U.S. processor of beef and pork. Tyson Foods Inc. is currently the world’s largest beef producer, followed by Cargill Inc. Virginia-based Smithfield Foods Inc. is the biggest pork producer, followed by Tyson. (photo cutline)

VIRGINIA

Bierman named CFO of Owens & Minor

Owens & Minor appointed James L. Bierman as the medical and surgical supplier’s chief financial officer effective June 13.

Bierman had served as chief financial officer for Quintiles Transnational Corp., a provider of product development for the pharmaceutical, biotech and medical-device industries.

Bierman replaces Jeffrey Kaczka, who will remain with the company in a consulting capacity for a transitional period.

Dominion Resources selling Canadian unit

Dominion Resources Inc. of Richmond said yesterday that it will sell its Canadian natural gas and oil exploration and production unit to two Canadian companies for $583 million.

The buyers are Paramount Energy Trust and Baytex Energy Trust, both of Calgary, Alberta. The selling price is based on the currency- exchange rate at the close of business on May 25.

The sale is another part of Dominion’s effort to exit the exploration and production business that the company acquired when it bought Consolidated Natural Gas in 2000. It previously announced the sale of the offshore portion of that business, which operates in the Gulf of Mexico, to an Italian company.

Goodman merging with West Crawley & Winn

Virginia accounting firm Goodman & Co. will merge with Chester- based West Crawley & Winn on July 1.

Goodman’s Colonial Heights office and the Chester site will be consolidated into a new location in Chester Village Green by late fall, Goodman said.

The Chester office employs three partners and 20 staff members, the same number at Goodman’s Colonial Heights office.

Goodman has grown from one location in Norfolk to a company with 77 partners and 500 employees in offices throughout the state and in Rockville, Md.

Smithfield profit below estimates of analysts

Smithfield Foods Inc., the world’s biggest pork producer, said fiscal fourth-quarter profit was 30 cents to 35 cents a share, trailing analysts’ estimates, amid higher hog-raising costs and losses from a cattle-feeding unit.

Smithfield was forecast to earn 45 cents, the average estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Full results will be announced on June 7.

Shares of Smithfield dropped $1.87, or 5.7 percent, to $30.88 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The announcement came after the close of regular trading. Smithfield shares fell as much as 8.4 percent in after-hours trading.

ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO

MEMO: Excerpted from BUSINESS BRIEFS

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