Pilgrim's Pride Upsizes and Prices its Senior Unsecured Notes Offering; Receives Positive Outlook from S&P Global

GREELEY, Colo., Aug. 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ: PPC) (the “Company”) announced the pricing of senior unsecured notes for an aggregate principal amount of $900.0 million (the "Notes"). The Notes due in 2032 will be issued at a price of 100% of the aggregate principal amount reflecting a yield to maturity of 3.50%. The aggregate principal amount of the Notes offered was upsized from $750.0 million due to significant investor demand for the Notes. The sale of the Notes is expected to close on September 2, 2021, subject to customary closing conditions. Each of the Company's domestic wholly-owned restricted subsidiaries that guarantee the Company’s secured credit facility will guarantee the Notes.

Prior to the offering of the Notes, S&P Global announced that due to the recent announcement by JBS S.A. (“JBS”) of its intention to acquire the remaining public shares of the Company not already owned by JBS or its subsidiaries, it now views the Company as a core subsidiary of JBS. Also, S&P Global affirmed its ‘BB+’ issuer credit rating for the Company and revised its outlook to positive from stable for the Company reflecting the same ratings and outlook outcome on JBS.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering of the Notes, together with borrowings under the delayed draw term loan under its secured credit facility, to finance its previously announced acquisition of the Meats and Meals businesses of Kerry Consumer Foods in the United Kingdom and Ireland and to pay related fees and expenses. The remaining proceeds will be used to repay outstanding revolver borrowings under the secured credit facility and for general corporate purposes.

The Notes will be offered in a private offering exempt from the registration requirements of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"). The Notes will be offered only to "qualified institutional buyers" pursuant to Rule 144A of the Securities Act and to certain persons outside the United States pursuant to Regulation S of the Securities Act.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the Notes. The Notes have not been registered under the Securities Act, or any state securities laws. Unless so registered, the Notes may not be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act, and applicable state securities laws.

About Pilgrim’s Pride
Pilgrim’s employs approximately 54,700 people and operates protein processing plants and prepared-foods facilities in 14 states, Puerto Rico, Mexico, the U.K. and continental Europe. The Company’s primary distribution is through retailers and foodservice distributors. For more information, please visit www.pilgrims.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
Statements contained in this press release that state the intentions, plans, hopes, beliefs, anticipations, expectations or predictions of the future of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation and its management are considered forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “projects,” “should,” “targets,” “will” and the negative thereof and similar words and expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. It is important to note that actual results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements include: whether or not Pilgrim’s Pride will offer the Notes or consummate the offering; the final terms of the offering; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, efforts to contain the pandemic and resulting economic downturn on our operations and financial condition, including the risk that our health and safety measures at Pilgrim’s Pride production facilities will not be effective, the risk that we may be unable to prevent the infection of our employees at these facilities, and the risk that we may need to temporarily close one or more of our production facilities; the risk that we may experience decreased production and sales due to the changing demand for food products; the risk that we may face a significant increase in delayed payments from our customers; and additional risks related to COVID-19 set forth in our most recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filed with the SEC; matters affecting the poultry industry generally; the ability to execute the Company’s business plan to achieve desired cost savings and profitability; future pricing for feed ingredients and the Company’s products; outbreaks of avian influenza or other diseases, either in Pilgrim’s Pride’s flocks or elsewhere, affecting its ability to conduct its operations and/or demand for its poultry products; contamination of Pilgrim’s Pride’s products, which has previously and can in the future lead to product liability claims and product recalls; exposure to risks related to product liability, product recalls, property damage and injuries to persons, for which insurance coverage is expensive, limited and potentially inadequate; management of cash resources; restrictions imposed by, and as a result of, Pilgrim’s Pride’s leverage; changes in laws or regulations affecting Pilgrim’s Pride’s operations or the application thereof; new immigration legislation or increased enforcement efforts in connection with existing immigration legislation that cause the costs of doing business to increase, cause Pilgrim’s Pride to change the way in which it does business, or otherwise disrupt its operations; competitive factors and pricing pressures or the loss of one or more of Pilgrim’s Pride’s largest customers; currency exchange rate fluctuations, trade barriers, exchange controls, expropriation and other risks associated with foreign operations; disruptions in international markets and distribution channel, including anti-dumping proceedings and countervailing duty proceedings; the risk of cyber-attacks, natural disasters, power losses, unauthorized access, telecommunication failures, and other problems on our information systems; and the impact of uncertainties of litigation and other legal matters described in our most recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, including the In re Broiler Chicken Antitrust Litigation, as well as other risks described under “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements in this release speak only as of the date hereof, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any such statement after the date of this release, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable law.

Contact:
Julie Kegley – Financial Profiles
Investor Relations
IRPPC@pilgrims.com
www.pilgrims.com

Source:  Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation