14 January 2022

1 minute read

South America

Brazil meatpacker Minerva is considering moving its legal domicile outside Brazil, and is leaning toward switching its listing to Nasdaq from the local stock exchange B3, a source close to the company told Reuters on Thursday.

The company said in a securities filing it had approved a study to change its domicile, but did not specify where, reported Reuters.

A Minerva spokesperson also declined to elaborate.

"Nasdaq was one of the stock exchanges analysed and that seemed to make more sense," the source later said.

Financial news website Brazil Journal reported earlier Thursday, without citing sources, that Minerva was considering a Nasdaq listing.

Minerva is the latest in a series of Brazilian companies seeking to relocate to the United States and list on a US exchange, fuelled by a desire for broader access to investors, lower corporate taxes, looser regulations for controlling shareholders, and more efficient capital markets.

The success of Brazilian tech startups with US listings, such as digital lender Nubank, has spurred interest from other sectors, ranging from retail to cosmetics, in moving their legal domiciles mainly to the United States as well as Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands.

Last year, Brazil's JBS SA, the world's largest meat processor, said it would also pursue this year a US listing of its international operations.

Source: Reuters