The trial of the merger between BRF and Marfrig was put on hold by the Administrative Council of Economic Defense (Cade), delaying the expected approval of the merger.
The board reached a majority decision to approve the merger of the companies despite the suspension. The only dissenting vote came from advisor Carlos Jacques, who requested further clarification on the process.
Victor Fernandes, Diogo Thomson, Camila Cabral Pires, and José Levi approved the transaction without considering the involvement of the Saudi fund, Salic, which holds shares in BRF and Minerva Foods, a direct competitor of Marfrig.
The involvement of the fund is a critical aspect of the merger analysis. Minerva and Nova Almeida, under the management of Latache Capital, have raised concerns about the deal with Cade. Minerva argues that there is a potential risk of significant influence from the Saudi fund on competing companies.
The current approach of the Novo Almeida fund aims to limit competition and strengthen existing barriers while removing important corporate governance checks.
Before the Wednesday meeting, the acting president suggested changing the expedited procedure to a regular one, which would involve reviewing the case with longer deadlines before the trial in court. To facilitate this, a virtual session was held to vote on the conversion of the procedure.
The proposal was rejected during the online meeting, prompting Augustus to remove the item from the agenda and proceed with a face-to-face trial on Wednesday. Shareholder pressure and concerns raised by advisors, particularly due to actions by competitor Minerva, were cited as reasons for the defeat.
Augustus voted in favor of the merger during the session, but he blocked Salic from using his political privileges.
