JBS Shareholder PROT Fund to Be Liquidated at Maturity

JBS SA’s (JBSS3) third-biggest shareholder, private-equity fund PROT - Fundo de Investimento em Participacoes, will be liquidated by its investors.

Shareholders voted to close the fund after it reached maturity, according to a regulatory filing dated July 13 and filed yesterday to Brazil’s securities regulator CVM. PROT held about 7.1 percent of the world’s largest meat producer as of March, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Some of the fund’s shareholders voted to retain ownership of the JBS stock, totaling 102.6 million shares, which they will receive within 10 days, according to the statement. Other investors, holding 102.8 million JBS shares, will decide within 180 days whether to retain the stock.

PROT was created in 2008 to invest 1.5 billion reais in JBS, with a 14.3 percent stake in the company, fund manager Angra Partners said in a statement on its website. PROT’s current stake in JBS is valued at 1.14 billion reais ($560 million), based on today’s share price.

JBS declined 3.1 percent to 5.57 reais in Sao Paulo trading and has fallen 8.4 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Francisco Marcelino in Sao Paulo at mdeoliveira@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Papadopoulos at papadopoulos@bloomberg.net