JBS S.A.

Executive Summary

Profile

World’s largest protein company by net revenue; JBS S.A. is a Brazilian multinational food company founded in 1953, operating across beef, pork, poultry, lamb, fish, plant-based proteins, and adjacent businesses including leather, biodiesel, and collagen. JBS S.A. is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of JBS N.V., a Dutch-incorporated holding company formed through a 2025 corporate restructuring. The company serves a global customer base of retail chains, wholesale clubs, and food service operators across more than 180 countries.

Scale & Footprint

• Record net revenue of US$86.2 billion in full-year 2025; market capitalization approximately $38.81 billion as of April 2026; net debt of US$16.3 billion at year-end 2025 at 2.39x adjusted EBITDA
• More than 282,000 employees globally
• Operations: São Paulo, Brazil (corporate HQ); Service Coverage: more than 20 countries across the Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Middle East, with sales to customers in more than 180 countries

What You Should Know

• Controlling shareholder overhang is the defining governance risk: J&F Investimentos, the Batista family vehicle, holds approximately 85% of total voting power via dual-class shares at JBS N.V., and the Brazilian leniency fine of 10.3 billion reais — suspended by a Supreme Court justice in December 2023 — remains unresolved as of early 2026, sustaining a foundational legal and governance uncertainty.
• Systemic enforcement exposure, not isolated incidents: Aggregate monetary penalties across antitrust, FCPA/SEC, environmental, and labor matters exceeded $580 million over 2016–2026, with active obligations including DOJ antitrust cooperation, a three-year New York AG compliance review, and unresolved child labor and modern slavery designations.
• 2025 NYSE listing is a material strategic milestone with concurrent risks: JBS N.V. began trading on the NYSE in June 2025, expanding access to U.S. capital markets and index eligibility; the listing simultaneously intensified scrutiny from ESG investors, environmental litigants, and political actors, generating sustained negative media coverage.
• Beef North America is a structural, not cyclical, margin problem: The segment reported a negative 2.2% operating margin on record revenue of US$28.1 billion in 2025, driven by the tightest U.S. cattle herd in 75 years and Mexican import restrictions — conditions with a multi-year recovery horizon.

Ownership & Governance

• JBS N.V. is indirectly controlled by J&F Investimentos S.A., the holding vehicle of brothers Joesley and Wesley Batista, who hold approximately 85% of total voting power via Class B shares carrying 10 times the voting rights of Class A shares; BNDESPar holds approximately 18.61% of JBS N.V.’s total issued capital as the largest minority shareholder
• JBS S.A.’s 11-member board includes both Batista brothers alongside independent directors; six standing committees govern audit, governance, financial risk, people, environmental, and related-party matters, though the Batistas hold positions on multiple committees including Financial and Risk Management and Governance, Compensation and Nomination
• Under a March 2025 agreement, J&F may owe BNDESPar up to 500 million Brazilian reais if JBS N.V.’s U.S. listing does not achieve a specified strike price by the second half of 2026, creating a contingent inter-shareholder obligation tied to market performance

Business Environment

• Ranked the world’s largest protein company by net revenue with the number-one global position in beef, poultry, prepared foods, and eggs, and number two in pork and salmon; highest U.S. meat processing market share per IBISWorld; JBS N.V.’s NYSE listing positions the company for potential Russell, S&P, and MSCI USA index inclusion
• Revenue grew 12% year-over-year to a record US$86.2 billion in 2025, with diversification delivering offsetting segment performance — Pilgrim’s Pride at 9.8% and Seara at 12.5% operating margins counterbalancing Beef North America’s negative 2.2% margin
• Active strategic expansion includes a 50% stake in Mantiqueira (eggs, South America), entry into Paraguay via a US$70 million investment cycle, a prospective US$2.5 billion Nigeria memorandum of understanding, the JBS VIVA leather joint venture, and Seara’s top-three Saudi Arabia poultry brand position within five years of market entry

Specific Risk

• Controlling shareholder governance and unresolved leniency fine: J&F’s 85% voting control via dual-class structure, combined with the December 2023 suspension of Brazil’s 10.3 billion reais leniency fine still under appeal, represents the most material unresolved legal and governance exposure; Batista brothers serve on key board committees
• Systemic antitrust and regulatory enforcement pattern: More than $580 million in aggregate penalties across antitrust, FCPA/SEC, environmental, and labor matters from 2016–2026; active DOJ cooperation obligations in ongoing beef antitrust litigation and a three-year New York AG compliance monitoring regime remain in force
• Beef North America structural margin compression: Negative 2.2% operating margin in 2025 on the company’s largest revenue segment; U.S. cattle herd at a 75-year low and Mexican import restrictions create a multi-year structural headwind with 2026 CapEx budgeted at US$2.4 billion under ongoing margin pressure
• Labor standards and modern slavery exposure: January 2025 DOL child labor remediation agreement ($4 million commitment), December 2025 Brazilian “dirty list” designation for JBS Aves restricting bank credit access for two years, and a pending race discrimination class action filed by Haitian workers at Greeley represent active, unresolved multi-jurisdictional labor compliance obligations
• Environmental sourcing and deforestation litigation risk: October 2024 documented cattle purchases from IBAMA-embargoed Pantanal farms, active Rondônia Amazon proceedings commenced December 2023, formal legal notices from Greenpeace and Mighty Earth linked to the NYSE listing, and a three-year greenwashing compliance review under the November 2025 New York AG settlement create compounding ESG litigation exposure

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1) Overview of the Company

JBS S.A. is a Brazilian multinational food company founded in 1953 in Anápolis, Brazil, by José Batista Sobrinho. The company relocated its corporate headquarters to São Paulo, Brazil, in 2004, where it remains domiciled today. With more than 70 years of operating history, JBS has grown into the world’s largest protein company and meatpacker by net revenue, with operations spanning beef, pork, poultry, lamb, fish, and plant-based proteins, alongside related businesses including leather, biodiesel, collagen, natural casings, fertilizers, recycling, and transportation.

The company’s stated mission is to be the best in all that it does — ensuring high-quality products and services for customers, trust with suppliers, profitability for shareholders, and a better future for team members. Its core values are Discipline, Simplicity, Humility, Ownership, Availability, Determination, and Sincerity.

JBS is organized into seven business segments: Brazil, Seara, Beef North America, Pork USA, Pilgrim’s Pride, Australia, and Others. The company’s branded portfolio includes Swift, Friboi, Seara, 1855, Great Southern, Doriana, Rezende, Maturatta, Swift Black, Cabaña Las Lilas, Pilgrim’s, Gold Kist Farms, Pierce, and Frangosul. Per company disclosures, JBS holds market-leading positions in beef across Australia, Brazil, and the USA; is the global number one poultry producer with leadership in Brazil, Europe, and the USA; ranks second globally in pork; and leads the prepared foods category in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. In 2025, JBS entered the egg category by acquiring a 50% stake in Mantiqueira, the largest egg producer in South America. The company also acquired corporate control of Spain’s BioTech Foods in 2022, marking its entry into the cultivated protein segment.

JBS reported record net revenue of US$86.2 billion for the full year ended December 31, 2025. The fiscal year ends on December 31. The company employs more than 282,000 people globally and serves more than 300,000 customers across more than 180 countries. It operates more than 250 units worldwide across more than 20 countries, including Brazil, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia, with operations and sales offices in 22 countries. Within Brazil alone, JBS maintains more than 130 facilities across 17 states, with more than 158,000 team members domestically.

JBS S.A. is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of JBS N.V., the Dutch-incorporated entity formed as part of a corporate restructuring that completed in mid-2025. JBS N.V. shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “JBS” on June 13, 2025, while JBS S.A. common shares were delisted from Brazil’s B3 exchange on June 6, 2025, with BDRs of JBS N.V. effective June 9, 2025. The company retains its listing in Brazil through this dual-listing structure. JBS S.A. is registered as a publicly-held company category A by the Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM) in Brazil.

Wesley Mendonça Batista Filho was appointed Chief Executive Officer of JBS USA effective May 1, 2023, succeeding Tim Schellpeper upon his retirement. Gilberto Tomazoni has served as Global CEO of JBS since December 2018, and Guilherme Perboyre Cavalcanti serves as Chief Financial Officer and Investor Relations Officer.

2) History

JBS was founded in 1953 by José Batista Sobrinho in Anápolis, Goiás, Brazil, initially operating under the name Casa de Carnes Mineira as a modest slaughterhouse processing approximately five cattle per day. An early strategic catalyst came in the late 1950s when the company secured contracts to supply meat to construction sites supporting the building of Brasília, providing both scale and consistent demand. In 1968, the company made its first acquisition of a slaughter plant in Planaltina, boosting daily capacity to approximately 100 animals. By 1970, JBS had acquired its first meatpacking plant in Formosa, Goiás, and launched the Friboi brand, establishing its first recognizable consumer identity.

The 1980s and 1990s brought sequential capacity expansions through acquisitions in Planaltina (1980), Goiânia (1996), and Barra do Garças (1997), with export operations commencing in 1996. The 1993 acquisition of the Anápolis unit from Grupo Bordon introduced the company’s first deboning room, a meaningful processing capability upgrade. A generational transition occurred around 2000 when Joesley and Wesley Batista assumed management roles at the company. In 2004, JBS relocated its corporate headquarters to São Paulo to centralize operations ahead of an accelerated growth phase.

The internationalization era commenced in 2005 with the acquisition of Swift Armour’s operations in Argentina. JBS completed its Brazilian stock exchange (B3) IPO in 2007 and, the same year, acquired Swift & Company in the United States and Australia for approximately $1.5 billion — a transformational transaction that established the company in the world’s largest beef market. In 2008, JBS further extended its global footprint by acquiring the Tasman Group in Australia, Smithfield Beef in the United States, and Five Rivers feedlots. An attempted acquisition of National Beef Packing Company, announced in March 2008, was terminated in February 2009 after the U.S. Department of Justice filed suit to block the transaction on competition grounds.

In 2009, JBS acquired a majority stake in Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation for approximately US$800 million, marking its entry into global poultry. The same year, JBS incorporated Bertin in Brazil, consolidating its domestic cattle leadership and entering leather processing. Brazilian state development bank BNDES purchased approximately $2 billion in debentures from JBS in December 2009, financing linked to expansion activity later implicated in the J&F bribery scheme. In 2011, Wesley Batista was named CEO, and JBS expanded into European cured meats by acquiring Italy’s Rigamonti. The 2013 acquisition of Seara Brasil — covering poultry, pork, and processed foods — from Marfrig was a pivotal diversification step, as was the concurrent acquisition of Zenda leather from Marfrig, which made JBS the world’s largest leather processor. Also in 2013, JBS acquired assets of XL Foods in the United States and Canada.

A wave of acquisitions in 2014–2016 materially broadened the portfolio: the $1.25 billion purchase of Primo Group in Australia (announced November 2014, closed March 2015); Big Frango in Brazil (2014); Tyson Foods’ poultry operations in Brazil (2014) and Mexico (2015); Moy Park from Marfrig (September 2015); Cargill’s U.S. pork business (October 2015), which made JBS the second-largest U.S. pork processor; and GNP Company/Gold’n Plump (2016). A proposed corporate reorganization to list JBS Foods International on the NYSE was announced in May 2016 but cancelled in October 2016 after shareholder BNDESPar vetoed the proposal.

The period from 2017 onward was defined by governance crises and their aftermath. In March 2017, Brazilian Federal Police launched Operation Weak Flesh targeting meat safety corruption involving JBS and BRF. In May 2017, J&F Investimentos signed a leniency agreement with Brazilian federal prosecutors, agreeing to pay a 10.3 billion reais (approximately US$3.2 billion) fine; the Batista brothers resigned their respective JBS S.A. posts the same month, with Tarek Farahat elected Board Chairman. JBS’s shares declined approximately 25% for 2017. A planned US$500 million IPO for JBS Foods International was withdrawn with the SEC in October 2017 amid the fallout. JBS also divested its beef assets in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay to Minerva for $300 million, and sold Moy Park to Pilgrim’s Pride for approximately £1.0 billion, as part of a broader $1.8 billion asset disposal program to restore liquidity. José Batista Sobrinho was elected President and Global CEO in September 2017 following Wesley Batista’s arrest on insider trading charges. In response to the governance failures, JBS restructured its compliance function into an independent global department reporting directly to the Board and created the Related Parties and Governance advisory committees.

In October 2020, J&F Investimentos pleaded guilty to U.S. foreign bribery charges and agreed to pay $128.25 million in criminal fines, while also settling with the SEC for $27 million. Separately, Pilgrim’s Pride agreed to pay $110.5 million to the U.S. Department of Justice to settle price-fixing charges. Gilberto Tomazoni, who had been named Global CEO in December 2018, navigated the company through these resolutions.

In May 2021, JBS suffered a ransomware attack attributed to the Russian-speaking group REvil, disabling beef and pork processing across the United States, Canada, and Australia; JBS USA subsequently paid an $11 million ransom in Bitcoin to restore operations. The 2021–2022 period also featured significant acquisitions: Vivera (plant-based foods, Europe, June 2021), Pilgrim’s Food Masters from Kerry Group (September 2021), Huon Aquaculture in Australia (completed November 2021), Sunnyvalley Smoked Meats (December 2021), Rivalea in Australia (completed January 2022), King’s Group in Italy (February 2022), and TriOak Foods in the United States (December 2022). JBS also acquired corporate control of Spain’s BioTech Foods in 2022, entering the cultivated protein segment, following an initial US$100 million investment in the company announced in late 2021. Joesley and Wesley Batista were re-elected to the JBS S.A. Board of Directors by shareholders in April 2024.

The dual-listing initiative, announced in July 2023, resulted in the formation of JBS N.V. as a Dutch parent entity. Following SEC registration effectiveness in April 2025, minority shareholder approval in May 2025, and the delisting of JBS S.A. shares from B3 on June 6, 2025, JBS N.V. shares began trading on the NYSE under the ticker “JBS” on June 13, 2025, with shares opening at $13.65 and implying a market capitalization of approximately $30 billion. In 2025, JBS acquired a 50% stake in Mantiqueira Brasil, entered the Paraguayan market through the acquisition of the Pollos Amanecer chicken processing plant as part of a US$70 million investment cycle, and signed a memorandum of understanding with Nigeria for a prospective US$2.5 billion investment in meatpacking infrastructure. In November 2025, JBS signed a binding memorandum of understanding to form a 50/50 leather joint venture, JBS VIVA, with Vanz Holding and Viposa. In early 2026, approximately 3,800 workers at the company’s Greeley, Colorado facility initiated a strike — described as the first at a U.S. meatpacking plant since 1985 — which was resolved in April 2026 through a two-year labor agreement.

3) Key Executives

Gilberto Tomazoni has served as Global Chief Executive Officer of JBS since December 5, 2018, succeeding José Batista Sobrinho. He holds a degree in mechanical engineering from Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina and a postgraduate degree in management. Tomazoni brings more than 40 years of food industry experience, including 27 years at Sadia where he rose from trainee to CEO, followed by a role as Vice President at Bunge Alimentos. He joined JBS in 2013 as Global President of the Poultry Business, later serving as CEO of Seara and President of JBS Global Operations before being appointed COO and subsequently Global CEO. In addition to his executive role, he serves as Chairman of the Board of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (since June 2013), Chairman of Rigamonti Salumificio S.p.A. and Excelsior Alimentos S.A., Board Member of JBS N.V., Brazilian Fast Food Corporation, Amcham, and CDESS, Chairman of the Sustainability Committee (since 2025), and founding member of the International Advisory Board of Fundação Dom Cabral. Tomazoni was recognized as Best CEO in the Latin American food and beverage sector by Institutional Investor magazine in 2025.

Guilherme Cavalcanti was appointed Global Chief Financial Officer and Investor Relations Officer of JBS effective January 15, 2019. He holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in Economics from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio). Prior to joining JBS, Cavalcanti served as CFO and Investor Relations Officer of Fibria Celulose S.A. for approximately seven years (2012–2019) and held the equivalent role at Vale S.A. from 2005 to 2011. Earlier in his career, he worked at Grupo Globo from 1997 to 2005 and held positions at Banco Pactual and Banco Banif/Primus. Cavalcanti was recognized as Best CFO in the Latin American food and beverage sector by Institutional Investor magazine in 2025.

Hélio Rubens serves as Head of Operational Excellence at JBS, a parent-company-level role, alongside serving as Prepared Foods Director at Seara. He is a Food Engineer and Chemist with a postgraduate degree in Management from Unicamp. Rubens accumulated 27 years of experience at Sadia/BRF, where he rose to Vice President of Global Operations, before joining JBS Australia in 2020 to lead operations at Primo Foods for three years.

Vicente Trius Oliva serves as Head of Global Innovation at JBS S.A. His role at the parent company level encompasses retail and innovation strategy. He previously served as a Board Director of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation, a position he ceased holding in April 2023.

4) Ownership

JBS S.A. is currently an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of JBS N.V., a Dutch-incorporated holding company that serves as the group’s ultimate listed parent following the corporate restructuring completed in June 2025. JBS N.V. Class A Common Shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “JBS,” while Brazilian Depositary Receipts (BDRs) trade on the B3 under the ticker “JBSS32.” JBS S.A. common shares were delisted from B3 on June 6, 2025.

JBS N.V. is indirectly controlled by J&F Investimentos S.A., the Batista family’s holding vehicle, through a two-phase contribution process that was completed on May 23, 2025. The direct controlling shareholders of JBS S.A. prior to the restructuring were J&F S.A. and JBS Participações Societárias S.A. The ultimate beneficial owners of the controlling chain are brothers Joesley Mendonça Batista and Wesley Mendonça Batista, who indirectly own 100% of the capital stock of J&F S.A. As of March 2025, J&F Investimentos S.A. held approximately 48.3% of JBS S.A.’s issued and outstanding common shares. More recently, third-party data as of March 18, 2026, indicated J&F S.A.’s stake at approximately 50.20% of JBS common stock, though this figure has not been independently verified through primary disclosure. BNDESPar — the equity investment arm of Brazil’s state development bank BNDES — held approximately 18.61% of JBS N.V.’s total issued capital as of March 18, 2026, down from approximately 20.8% reported as of March 2025. Under a March 2025 agreement between J&F and BNDESPar, BNDESPar agreed to abstain from voting on the U.S. listing plan; additionally, J&F may owe BNDESPar up to 500 million Brazilian reais if JBS’s U.S. listing does not achieve a specified strike price by the second half of 2026.

In connection with the JBS N.V. structure, Class B shares carry 10 times the voting power of Class A shares, with the result that the controlling shareholders hold approximately 85% of total voting power despite a lower percentage of economic ownership.

Regarding recent ownership changes, in December 2023, J&F S.A. contributed 369,918,510 JBS S.A. shares and FIP Formosa contributed 180,010,329 shares into JBS Participações Societárias S.A. as part of a capital increase. As of December 31, 2024, JBS S.A. had 2,218,116,370 common shares outstanding.

The JBS S.A. Board of Directors is composed of 11 members, elected by the Shareholders’ Meeting for a two-year joint term with reelection permitted. Pursuant to the company’s bylaws, at least 2 members or 20% (whichever is greater) must be independent. Following elections at the May 13, 2025 annual meeting, the board consists of Jeremiah O’Callaghan (Chair), José Batista Sobrinho (Vice Chair), Wesley Mendonça Batista, Joesley Mendonça Batista, Alba Pettengill, Gelson Luiz Merisio, Francisco Turra, Carlos Hamilton Vasconcelos Araujo, Kátia Regina de Abreu Gomes, Paulo Bernardo Silva, and Cledorvino Belini. Joesley and Wesley Batista were reelected to the board at the April 26, 2024 annual meeting, having previously rejoined the Pilgrim’s Pride board on February 8, 2024.

The board maintains six standing committees as of May 2025. The Statutory Audit Committee (SAC) is coordinated by Carlos Hamilton Vasconcelos Araújo and includes Gelson Merisio and Mauro Mitio Inagaki. The Governance, Compensation and Nomination Committee is coordinated by Jeremiah O’Callaghan and includes Kátia Abreu, Paulo Bernardo, and Wesley Mendonça Batista. The Financial and Risk Management Committee is coordinated by Guilherme Perboyre Cavalcanti and includes Gilberto Tomazoni, Wesley Mendonça Batista, Joesley Mendonça Batista, Wesley Mendonça Batista Filho, and Carlos Hamilton Vasconcelos Araújo. The People and Opportunities Committee is coordinated by Jeremiah O’Callaghan and includes Wesley Mendonça Batista, Joesley Mendonça Batista, Gelson Merisio, and Juriana Sperandio. The Social and Environmental Responsibility Committee is coordinated by Jeremiah O’Callaghan and includes Joesley Mendonça Batista, Kátia Abreu, and Paulo Bernardo. The Related Parties Committee is coordinated by Gelson Merisio and includes Alba Pettengill, Carlos Hamilton Vasconcelos Araújo, and Mauro Mitio Inagaki.

JBS N.V. beneficially owns approximately 82% of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ: PPC), which is publicly listed and governed by its own board of directors, with Gilberto Tomazoni serving as Chairman.

5) Financial Position

JBS N.V. (the listed parent of JBS S.A.) trades on the NYSE under the ticker “JBS” since June 13, 2025, with Brazilian Depositary Receipts trading on B3 under “JBSS32.” As of April 2026, market capitalization stood at approximately $38.81 billion, compared to approximately $15.38 billion as of June 10, 2025 — prior to the NYSE listing completing. The stock closed at $15.75 on March 25, 2026.

Revenue growth has followed a broadly upward trajectory. Net revenue was US$72.6 billion in 2022, US$72.9 billion in 2023, US$77.2 billion in 2024, and a record US$86.2 billion for full-year 2025 — a 12% year-over-year increase. Profitability, however, has been more volatile. Adjusted EBITDA was US$6.7 billion (margin approximately 9.2%) in 2022, collapsed to US$3.5 billion in 2023 following a net loss of US$198.9 million attributable to shareholders, then recovered strongly to US$7.2 billion in 2024 and US$6.8 billion in 2025 (EBITDA margin of 7.9%). The 2025 EBITDA margin contracted from 9.3% in 2024, reflecting margin pressure in Beef North America — which reported a negative 2.2% operating margin on record revenue of US$28.1 billion — driven by historically high U.S. cattle prices stemming from the tightest cattle herd in 75 years and restrictions on Mexican live cattle imports from May 2025. Partially offsetting this, Pilgrim’s Pride achieved a 9.8% operating margin, Seara a 12.5% operating margin, and JBS Australia expanded its adjusted operating margin to 9.4% on revenue growth of 21.5%. Net income attributable to shareholders was US$3.0 billion in 2022, a loss of US$198.9 million in 2023, US$2.0 billion in 2024, and US$2.0 billion in 2025. Return on equity expanded to 25.3% in 2025 from 22.1% in 2024, while return on invested capital was 17.4% for the year ended December 31, 2025.

Efficiency metrics as of mid-2025 included an asset turnover of 1.99 and an inventory turnover of 9.68, reflective of the high-volume, low-margin characteristics of the global protein processing sector. Return on assets was approximately 7.8%.

The liquidity profile as of year-end 2025 showed cash and cash equivalents of US$4.6 billion alongside US$3.5 billion in revolving credit facilities ($3.0 billion in the U.S. and $500 million in Brazil), providing total available liquidity in excess of US$8 billion. Working capital as of December 31, 2024 was US$5.5 billion. The current ratio was 1.62 and quick ratio 0.84 as of mid-2025. Total outstanding indebtedness was US$19.3 billion as of December 31, 2024, rising slightly to US$19.5 billion as of June 30, 2025. Net debt stood at US$16.3 billion at year-end 2025, with a leverage ratio of 2.39x adjusted EBITDA — within management’s stated target band of 2.0x–3.0x. The debt portfolio carries an average maturity of 14.8 years, an average cost of 5.7% per annum, and approximately 96% is long-term in structure. Interest coverage was 6.50x in Q4 2025, down from 7.41x in the prior-year period. Fitch Ratings affirmed a Long-Term Issuer Default Rating of BBB- on March 3, 2026, maintaining investment-grade status.

Cash flow generation showed significant pressure in 2025. Operating cash flow declined to US$4.0 billion from US$5.5 billion in 2024, while CapEx increased to US$2.1 billion from US$1.5 billion in 2024 — with 54% allocated to maintenance and 46% to expansion. Free cash flow contracted sharply to US$400 million, an 83% decrease from US$2.3 billion in 2024, driven by higher CapEx and approximately US$850 million in working capital consumption. The 2026 CapEx budget is planned at US$2.4 billion ($1.3 billion expansion, $1.1 billion maintenance). Over the 2019–2025 period, JBS generated US$15.7 billion in cumulative free cash flow (excluding expansion CapEx), deploying US$5.7 billion toward expansion, US$3.5 billion to M&A, US$5.3 billion to dividends, and US$3.4 billion to share buybacks. Management announced a $1.00 per share dividend payable June 17, 2026, consistent with a stated goal of returning approximately $1 billion annually to shareholders.

Key risks disclosed in public filings include livestock and feed price volatility, animal disease outbreaks (including HPAI in U.S. poultry and dairy and the February 2023 temporary suspension of Brazilian beef exports to China following atypical BSE), currency fluctuations, antitrust and legal proceedings, and labor relations. Geographic and protein diversification across seven business segments and more than 180 countries provides partial mitigation against single-segment cyclicality, as demonstrated by the divergent 2025 performance between Beef North America and Seara/Pilgrim’s. Asia represented 48.9% of export net revenue in 2024, creating concentration exposure to that region’s trade and regulatory environment.

6) Market Position

JBS occupies the highest position in global protein processing by net revenue, confirmed by third-party sources including Reuters, Fitch Ratings, and IBISWorld. Per company disclosures, JBS holds the number-one global rank in beef, poultry, prepared foods, and eggs as of the 2025 fiscal year, and ranks second globally in both pork and salmon. Within the United States, IBISWorld identified JBS USA Holdings as the company with the highest market share in U.S. meat processing as of 2025 — per company disclosures, JBS leads in U.S. beef, and ranks second in both poultry and pork domestically. JBS’s 2025 NYSE listing via JBS N.V. has positioned the company for potential inclusion in indices such as the Russell, S&P, and MSCI USA — passive-fund-relevant benchmarks that increase institutional visibility and may drive incremental demand for the stock.

The competitive landscape is concentrated among a small number of large multinational processors. Per industry databases, key competitors include Tyson Foods, Cargill, Smithfield Foods (a subsidiary of WH Group), Hormel Foods, BRF, Marfrig Global Foods, Minerva Foods, Perdigão, and Ceratti. In the U.S. beef and pork processing duopoly alongside JBS, Tyson Foods and Cargill represent the most direct scale peers. In Brazil, BRF and Marfrig are the most comparable domestic protein processors across poultry and beef respectively. Barriers to entry in global protein processing are substantial, encompassing capital-intensive processing infrastructure, regulatory approvals across multiple jurisdictions, established supplier and customer relationships, and brand recognition developed over decades.

JBS serves more than 300,000 customers across more than 180 countries, per company disclosures, with JBS USA alone distributing to customers in approximately 100 countries. The customer base is predominantly composed of retail chains, wholesale clubs, and food service operators. No publicly disclosed data is available on customer concentration (i.e., percentage of revenue attributable to the top customers), nor on consumer demographic composition by age group or generational segment. Asia represented 48.9% of export net revenue in 2024 (53.2% in 2023 per SEC filings), representing a material geographic concentration in the export mix. JBS was ranked as the leader in the Brazilian food and beverage sector and the second-largest company in Brazil by net revenue in the 2024 Valor 1000 ranking, per that publication.

On strategic partnerships, JBS USA formalized a partnership with Victorinox on March 2, 2026, targeting operational performance and yield optimization through direct purchasing and collaborative tool development across individual plant operations. JBS signed a memorandum of understanding with WH Group in January 2020 for the supply and distribution of fresh beef, poultry, and pork to the Chinese market, with potential annual volume estimated at $712 million. JBS also partnered with JD Fresh to launch a flagship store on JD.com for the Chinese retail market, integrating a blockchain-based tracing system enabling consumers to verify product origin, customs clearance, and distribution data via QR codes. In the Netherlands, Seara signed a distribution agreement with Bilal Snacks BV (part of Bilal Group) for exclusive distribution of Seara’s halal frozen convenience products in Dutch retail, extending the brand’s halal platform across European markets. In Saudi Arabia, Seara achieved a top-three brand by market share in poultry as of January 2026, five years after its market entry in 2021 — supported by $85 million in cumulative in-country investment since 2021 and plans to double Jeddah plant output by end-2026.

JBS USA completed an SAP S/4HANA system conversion using smartShift’s Intelligent Automation platform, reported to have saved 30,000 hours of developer time and reducing code remediation from months to weeks. JBS spends more than $200 million annually on information technology and employs more than 850 IT professionals globally, as of mid-2021 reporting. The company also deploys a blockchain-based beef traceability platform, per Fitch Ratings commentary and independent industry sources. JBS processes over 200,000 cattle, 500,000 hogs, 45 million chickens, and 80,000 small stock per week across its global operations, per company disclosures.

JBS USA Beef was named the 2025 Packer Marketer of the Year by the Certified Angus Beef brand. JBS was recognized by Institutional Investor as the best company in the food and beverage segment for the fourth consecutive year in 2025, based on input from more than 1,000 professionals at global financial institutions — a recognition that supports the company’s institutional investor relations positioning following the NYSE listing.

7) Legal Claims and Actions

JBS S.A. and its subsidiaries carry one of the most extensive enforcement and litigation records among publicly traded food companies globally, spanning criminal bribery, antitrust price-fixing and wage collusion, environmental violations, labor and employment infractions, and consumer protection matters across the United States, Brazil, and internationally.

The foundational enforcement matter — the FCPA and Brazilian bribery scheme — was documented in the History section. On the U.S. side, JBS S.A. agreed to pay approximately $27 million in disgorgement and ceased-and-desist to the SEC, while J&F Investimentos S.A. pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the FCPA and agreed to pay a criminal penalty exceeding $256 million; Joesley and Wesley Batista each paid civil penalties of $550,000. In Brazil, the May 2017 leniency agreement required J&F to pay 10.3 billion reais over 25 years, with seven JBS executives separately agreeing to pay 225 million reais in fines under plea agreements. Notably, a Brazilian Supreme Court justice suspended the 10.3 billion reais fine in December 2023, pending reevaluation of the leniency agreement’s terms; this suspension remains subject to ongoing legal appeals as of early 2026. Separately, in October 2020, Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation agreed to pay $110.5 million to the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve criminal antitrust charges related to coordinating prices and rigging bids in the chicken broiler industry from 2012 to early 2019.

On beef and pork antitrust matters in U.S. civil litigation, JBS has entered a series of settlements within the consolidated In re: Cattle and Beef Antitrust Litigation (D. Minn., No. 0:22-md-03031): a $52.5 million settlement with direct beef purchasers received final approval in 2024; a $25 million settlement with commercial purchasers received court approval following announcement in April 2023; and an $83.5 million settlement resolving claims from cattle producers and live cattle futures traders received preliminary approval in February 2025, with JBS required to cooperate in ongoing litigation against non-settling defendants. In the parallel pork antitrust matter, JBS reached a combined $57 million settlement across three tranches, with a $20 million consumer settlement approved in September 2022. Across these beef and pork antitrust proceedings, aggregate civil settlements exceed $215 million, with JBS consistently denying liability.

In a related employment antitrust matter, JBS agreed to pay $55 million as part of a combined $127.3 million settlement with Tyson Foods in Brown, et al. v. JBS USA Food Company, et al. (D. Colo., No. 1:22-cv-02946), resolving class action claims of wage collusion and suppression of employee compensation at meat processing plants; preliminary approval was granted January 15, 2025.

Environmental enforcement actions include a $275,000 civil penalty paid by Swift Beef Company in December 2023 to the EPA for Clean Water Act violations at its Grand Island, Nebraska facility — representing at least 50 permit limit exceedances between 2018 and 2023 — following a prior $1.2 million Clean Water Act penalty paid by Swift in 2011 for similar violations, indicating a recurring compliance pattern at that facility.

On consumer protection and climate disclosure, the New York Attorney General’s civil complaint against JBS USA Food Company and JBS USA Food Company Holdings, filed in early 2024 alleging misleading “Net Zero by 2040” marketing claims, was resolved in November 2025 through an Assurance of Discontinuance: JBS USA agreed to pay $1.1 million toward climate-smart agriculture programs, revise its language from “pledge” to “goal,” and submit annual compliance reviews for three years. JBS neither admitted nor denied findings.

Significant labor and employment matters include: a January 2025 agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor requiring JBS USA Food Co. to commit $4 million toward remediation of unlawful child labor practices; a December 2025 Brazilian federal labor court order adding JBS Aves to Brazil’s “dirty list” of employers linked to modern slavery following a raid discovering 10 workers in slavery-like conditions, restricting that subsidiary’s access to certain bank loans for two years; a 2021 Brazilian labor court ruling requiring reinstatement and damages payments to approximately 40 Kaingang indigenous workers dismissed during the COVID-19 pandemic; and a pending race-based discrimination class action filed by Haitian nationals against JBS USA in Colorado federal court, with JBS seeking dismissal as of March 2026. A 2017 U.S. securities class action alleging concealment of the bribery scheme and food safety violations following Operation Weak Flesh was settled in 2019. Brazil’s State of Rondônia commenced proceedings against JBS S.A. in December 2023 alleging illegal cattle purchases from protected Amazon areas; as of available filings, JBS had not been served.

Cumulatively, documented monetary penalties and settlements over the ten-year period from 2016 through 2026 attributable directly to JBS S.A. and its subsidiaries (excluding J&F’s separate criminal fine) total in excess of $580 million across antitrust, FCPA/SEC, environmental, and labor matters. Pattern analysis reveals systemic exposure across four recurring categories: antitrust coordination (both pricing and wages), environmental permit compliance at legacy Swift facilities, labor standards (child labor, indigenous worker rights, modern slavery), and governance/corruption at the controlling shareholder level. The suspension of the Brazilian leniency fine and ongoing U.S. antitrust cooperation obligations represent material unresolved exposures for institutional investors. The Greeley strike described in the History section, the pending Haitian workers’ discrimination class action, and the Amazon deforestation proceedings each represent active reputational and legal risks as of the report date.

8) Recent Media Coverage

Coverage of JBS across financial press, business media, ESG and sustainability publications, and legal/regulatory outlets has been predominantly negative in tone over the 2024–2026 period, reflecting the company’s extensive litigation exposure, labor controversies, and environmental record. Positive coverage has been concentrated around the NYSE listing milestone and financial performance, but this has been substantially overshadowed by adversarial narratives.

The June 2025 NYSE listing generated the most extensive media event of the period, attracting simultaneous positive and negative framing. Financial press, including major outlets and the Financial Times, reported the shareholder approval and market debut in broadly positive terms, emphasizing the strategic significance of access to U.S. capital markets. However, this coverage was immediately counterbalanced by sustained negative reporting from ESG/sustainability publications, legal advocacy organizations, and political media. Environmental groups including Mighty Earth and Greenpeace International issued formal legal notices and litigation threats that were widely reported in sustainability-focused outlets, characterizing the listing as an unresolved governance and environmental risk. Business and political media gave substantial attention to Democratic senators’ letters questioning the relationship between Pilgrim’s Pride’s $5 million donation to the Trump inaugural committee and the SEC’s approval of the listing — a narrative that amplified political controversy around what would otherwise have been a routine capital markets event.

Greenwashing litigation generated sustained negative coverage across ESG publications, environmental journalism, and mainstream business media throughout 2024 and into 2025. The New York Attorney General’s February 2024 suit against JBS USA over its “net zero by 2040” claims was framed by outlets as a landmark climate accountability case against a major food company. The March 2023 ruling by the National Advertising Division calling on JBS to cease its net zero claims preceded the litigation and was cited by sustainability media as evidence of a systemic pattern of unsubstantiated climate marketing. The November 2025 resolution via Assurance of Discontinuance received moderate coverage, with ESG-focused outlets noting the settlement’s limited financial scope relative to the reputational damage sustained.

Labor and workplace safety controversies generated a multi-strand negative media narrative concentrated around the Greeley, Colorado facility. The September 2024 UFCW Local 7 allegations of human trafficking and abusive conditions for immigrant workers were covered extensively by Bloomberg and agricultural/food industry trade publications, with framing that emphasized worker vulnerability and management misconduct. The December 2025 class action filed on behalf of Haitian workers — alleging discriminatory recruitment, falsified safety training records, and unsafe line speeds — generated additional coverage in Haitian community media, immigration-focused outlets, and food industry press. A whistleblower lawsuit filed in mid-2025 by a former safety instructor alleging pressure to falsify training records received coverage in regional business media, reinforcing the broader narrative of systemic labor compliance failures. The January 2025 Department of Labor child labor settlement was reported in human resources trade publications with mixed framing — coverage noted both the company’s monetary commitment and, unusually, a government administrator’s public praise for JBS’s remedial program as “creative and forward-thinking.”

Environmental sourcing investigations published in October 2024 by Mongabay and Unearthed, documenting cattle purchases from IBAMA-embargoed farms in the Pantanal, received prominent coverage in environmental journalism and sustainability-focused outlets. These investigations reinforced a broader media narrative, sustained across 2024 and 2025, linking JBS to Amazon and Pantanal deforestation and undermining the company’s sustainability credentials in ESG-oriented institutional investor media.

The April 2024 return of Joesley and Wesley Batista to the JBS S.A. board was reported negatively across food safety news outlets and financial press, with coverage uniformly contextualizing the board reinstatement against the brothers’ prior admitted bribery conduct. The first-quarter 2023 earnings shock — which saw JBS shares decline approximately 13% in a single session, the largest intraday drop in three years — generated acute negative coverage in agricultural trade and financial press, with outlets framing the simultaneous losses across all geographies as evidence that diversification had not insulated the company from correlated cyclical risks. Coverage of the early 2026 Greeley strike resolution was more neutral in tone, with labor and food industry press reporting the two-year agreement as a constructive labor relations outcome.

9) Strengths

Scale-Based Competitive Moat in Global Protein Processing

JBS’s position as the world’s largest protein company by net revenue creates operational leverage that is structurally difficult for competitors to replicate. Processing more than 200,000 cattle, 500,000 hogs, and 45 million chickens per week generates volume efficiencies in procurement, logistics, and customer fulfillment that compress unit costs across the supply chain. This scale translates into customer stickiness: serving more than 300,000 customers in more than 180 countries necessitates infrastructure depth that functions as a durable market barrier.

Multi-Protein, Multi-Geography Diversification as a Cycle Buffer

The seven-segment structure distributes exposure across protein types and geographies in a way that partially insulates consolidated earnings from single-segment cyclicality. The 2025 results demonstrated this in practice: negative operating margins in Beef North America were offset by strong performance across Pilgrim’s Pride, Seara, and JBS Australia. No single competitor among Tyson Foods, Cargill, BRF, or Marfrig replicates this breadth of protein and geographic coverage simultaneously.

NYSE Listing and Dual Capital Market Access

The completion of the JBS N.V. restructuring and the NYSE listing of JBS N.V. Class A shares in June 2025 — while retaining BDR listings in Brazil — grants the company simultaneous access to the deepest equity capital market globally and its domestic institutional investor base. Public company status in the U.S. imposes SEC reporting standards, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance requirements, and independent audit obligations that enhance financial transparency relative to private competitors. Potential index inclusion in Russell, S&P, and MSCI USA benchmarks could further broaden the passive institutional investor base and reduce the long-term cost of equity capital.

Investment-Grade Credit Rating and Long-Duration Debt Structure

Fitch Ratings’ March 2026 BBB- affirmation enables access to a broader and lower-cost creditor base than sub-investment-grade peers. The debt portfolio’s average maturity of 14.8 years and approximately 96% long-term classification substantially reduces refinancing risk during commodity or earnings downturns and affords management flexibility to pursue opportunistic acquisitions without near-term balance sheet stress.

Sustained Free Cash Flow Generation Funding Capital Returns

Over the 2019–2025 period, JBS generated US$15.7 billion in cumulative free cash flow (excluding expansion CapEx), with consistent deployment toward M&A, dividends, and share buybacks — including the stated goal of approximately $1 billion in annual shareholder returns. This demonstrates the cash generative characteristics of the integrated protein processing model across a full commodity cycle, including the 2023 trough year.

Brand Portfolio Depth Across Price Points and Channels

JBS’s branded portfolio spans commodity, premium, and branded value-added segments across retail and food service channels globally. This portfolio architecture allows the company to capture margin at multiple points in the value chain rather than competing exclusively on commodity volume. JBS USA Beef’s recognition as the 2025 Packer Marketer of the Year by the Certified Angus Beef brand reflects the company’s ability to build and maintain branded premium positioning within commodity protein categories.

Technology Infrastructure Supporting Operational Efficiency

JBS’s annual investment of more than $200 million in information technology and the completed SAP S/4HANA enterprise system conversion demonstrate the company’s capacity to implement large-scale systems transformation across complex, multi-jurisdictional operations. The blockchain-based beef traceability platform provides both supply chain integrity and a differentiated customer-facing transparency capability relevant to retailer and food service procurement criteria.

Institutional Investor Recognition and Sell-Side Visibility

JBS’s recognition by Institutional Investor as the best company in the food and beverage segment for the fourth consecutive year in 2025 — along with individual recognitions for the Global CEO and CFO — reflects the quality of investor engagement. This advantage compounds following the NYSE listing by increasing the company’s visibility among U.S.-based institutional allocators who may have had limited prior exposure to a Brazil-only listed issuer.

Expanding Protein Category Footprint Reducing Structural Concentration Risk

The successive entry into cultivated proteins, plant-based proteins, eggs, and aquaculture represents a deliberate repositioning of the portfolio toward categories with distinct demand drivers and lower correlation to conventional livestock cycles. The Saudi Arabia market — where Seara achieved a top-three brand position by market share in poultry within five years of entry through sustained capital commitment — illustrates the company’s track record of building durable market share in new geographies.

10) Potential Risks and Areas for Further Due Diligence

Controlling Shareholder Governance and Leniency Agreement Suspension

The most material risk facing JBS is the concentration of control — approximately 85% of total voting power — in J&F Investimentos, the holding vehicle of brothers Joesley and Wesley Batista, whose dual-class share structure at JBS N.V. entrenches this dominance despite lower economic ownership. The foundational FCPA and Brazilian bribery scheme, which resulted in combined criminal and civil penalties exceeding $280 million at the group level, remains unresolved: a Brazilian Supreme Court justice suspended the 10.3 billion reais leniency fine in December 2023, and this suspension is subject to ongoing legal appeals as of early 2026. The Batistas’ return to the JBS S.A. board in April 2024 and the Financial Risk Management Committee’s composition — which includes both Batista brothers — compounds governance concentration risk. Due diligence should verify the current status of the Brazilian leniency proceedings, assess whether J&F’s stake has crossed the 50% threshold per primary filings, and evaluate the adequacy of the Related Parties Committee’s independence from the controlling family.

Systemic Antitrust and Regulatory Enforcement Pattern

The regulatory enforcement pattern documented across the legal record — exceeding $580 million in aggregate monetary penalties across antitrust, FCPA/SEC, environmental, and labor matters over 2016–2026 — reflects systemic exposure rather than isolated incidents. Active obligations include JBS’s cooperation mandate with DOJ in ongoing antitrust proceedings against non-settling defendants in the beef litigation, and the three-year annual compliance review regime under the November 2025 New York AG Assurance of Discontinuance. The antitrust exposure spans both pricing coordination (beef, pork, and chicken) and wage collusion, indicating compliance gaps across multiple business functions. Diligence should assess whether enhanced antitrust compliance programs are in place across all protein segments, the scope of remaining civil antitrust exposure, and whether any new regulatory investigations have been initiated following the NYSE listing.

Labor Standards, Child Labor, and Modern Slavery Exposure

JBS carries active, multi-jurisdictional labor compliance obligations that represent both financial and reputational risk. The January 2025 DOL child labor agreement and the December 2025 Brazilian “dirty list” designation for JBS Aves are ongoing remediation obligations rather than resolved matters. The pending Haitian workers’ race discrimination class action and the whistleblower lawsuit alleging falsified safety training records at Greeley add incremental unresolved exposure. Diligence should request the full scope of the DOL child labor remediation program, verify the current status of JBS Aves’s “dirty list” restriction and its financial impact, and assess the adequacy of independent labor auditing across all processing facilities.

Beef North America Structural Margin Pressure

Beef North America — the company’s largest revenue segment — generated a negative 2.2% operating margin in 2025, driven by the tightest U.S. cattle herd in 75 years compounded by Mexican live cattle import restrictions. These are structural supply-side constraints with a multi-year recovery timeline, not cyclical dislocations, and the elevated 2026 CapEx budget reflects ongoing capital intensity under margin compression. Due diligence should evaluate the forward cattle supply outlook, assess any capacity rationalization plans for North American beef facilities, and stress-test free cash flow scenarios if negative Beef North America margins persist through 2026–2027.

Cybersecurity Vulnerability and Ransomware Recurrence Risk

The May 2021 REvil ransomware attack demonstrated that JBS’s scale creates systemic operational vulnerability: a single cyberattack disrupted a meaningful share of North American protein processing capacity and required an $11 million Bitcoin ransom payment to resolve. While the SAP S/4HANA migration reflects investment in enterprise systems modernization, no public disclosure of current cybersecurity certification status (e.g., SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001) has been identified. The ransom payment and the operational architecture that allowed cross-border facility shutdowns suggest potential network segmentation deficiencies. Diligence should request current cybersecurity architecture documentation, evidence of third-party penetration testing, incident response protocols, and cyber insurance coverage limits relative to the scale of potential operational disruption.

Environmental Sourcing and Deforestation Litigation Risk

Environmental risk at JBS is multi-jurisdictional and active. October 2024 investigations documented cattle purchases from IBAMA-embargoed farms in the Pantanal. Proceedings initiated by Brazil’s State of Rondônia in December 2023 allege illegal cattle purchases from protected Amazon areas. Greenpeace International and Mighty Earth issued formal legal notices in connection with the June 2025 NYSE listing, and the November 2025 greenwashing settlement with the New York AG imposed ongoing annual compliance reviews. The aggregate pattern — spanning Amazon deforestation, Pantanal sourcing, and greenwashing allegations — creates a compounding reputational and litigation risk that is particularly material for ESG-mandated institutional investors. Diligence should assess the current status of the Rondônia proceedings, the scope of supplier-level traceability verification, and whether the “Net Zero by 2040 goal” revisions comply with the AG’s three-year monitoring mandate.

BNDESPar Strike Price Obligation and Ownership Concentration Risk

Under the March 2025 agreement between J&F and BNDESPar, J&F may owe BNDESPar up to 500 million Brazilian reais if JBS N.V.’s U.S. listing does not achieve a specified strike price by the second half of 2026. BNDESPar holds approximately 18.61% of JBS N.V.’s total issued capital, making it the largest minority shareholder with a government-linked institutional mandate. This contingent liability, combined with the political sensitivity of the BNDES relationship and J&F’s dual-class voting dominance, creates a governance overhang: if the strike price condition is not met, the resulting dispute between J&F and BNDESPar could constrain strategic flexibility or trigger shareholder conflicts. Diligence should confirm the precise strike price threshold, the timeline and measurement mechanism, and assess the probability of the condition being met given current JBS N.V. share trading levels.

Sources

1] [JBS S.A.: Homepage
2] [JBS S.A. — SEC Form 20-F Filing (2024)
3] [JBS S.A. 20-F Filing (SEC)
4] [JBS N.V. SEC Filing – Corporate Restructuring
5] [JBS S.A. 4Q25 Earnings Presentation – Investing.com
6] [JBS S.A. Q4 2025 Earnings Call Highlights – The Globe and Mail
7] [IBISWorld – U.S. Meat Processing Industry
8] [SEC Press Release: JBS FCPA Charges (Oct. 2020)
9] [JBS Goes Public on NYSE, Now Faces New Legal Backlash – BankTrack
10] [JBS Shareholders Approve US Stock Listing Despite Pushback – NSJ Online
11] [U.S. Senator Questions JBS Over Trump Inaugural Fund – Reuters
12] [Brazil Meatpacker JBS and Trump NYSE Listing – New York Times
13] [JBS N.V. — SEC Form 20-F Filing (2026)
14] [JBS — Record Revenue Full Year 2025 (StockTitan/Yahoo Finance)
15] [JBS – SEC Filing (20-F/Proxy)
16] [JBS S.A. SEC Filing – April 2025 Restructuring
17] [MarketScreener – JBS N.V. Board Election and 1Q25 Analysis
18] [JBS N.V. SEC Filing (Form 6-K / Prospectus Supplement, 2025)
19] [Reuters – JBS Q4 2025 Results
20] [Fitch Ratings – JBS S.A. Rating Commentary