The chicken producer's spokesman Gary Rhodes told Reuters the
company is not expecting to file for bankruptcy protection and is
"exploring opportunities to refinance and recapitalize."
Rhodes told Reuters it hired Bain Corporate Renewal Group to
help improve operations and Lazard as its
investment baker for advice.
Rhodes spoke to
Reuters after The Wall Street Journal reported
that Pilgrim's Pride, which had significant losses in the fourth
quarter, could be forced to seek bankruptcy protection because it lost more than 84% of its value in the last six months. The
report cited
two potential suitors
for the company or company assets: Tyson Foods Inc. and Industrias
Bachoco SAB de CV. Either one makes sense, with Pilgrim's Pride owning 33 processing plants in the
U.S. and three in Mexico along with 12 prepared-foods plants. Pilgrim's Pride also has good distribution contacts and exports commodity chicken products to more than 80 countries,
including China, Japan, Kazakhstan and Russia. If either company were looking to expand, it might be a good deal. As
Dealscape reported earlier this week, Tyson -- which is seeking
acquisitions in the U.S. and also in emerging markets -- has $1.5 billion to burn.
- Maria Woehr
Comments
Now that PPC has been given another month by it's creditors, what do you think is the likelyhood of bankruptcy?