Europe’s largest poultry processor, which is currently owned by the Brazilian meat processor Marfrig, has 12,000 staff in the UK, France and the Netherlands.
Brazil-based JBS agreed to the buyout and would also take on Moy Park’s debt of £200M as part of the transaction.
The deal was an important step in JBS’s strategy to grow its portfolio of prepared and convenient products with high value-added portfolio, the firm’s investor relations officer Jeremiah O’Callaghan said.
Reduce Marfrig's net debt
The sale of Moy Park would also help reduce Marfrig’s $5bn debt and allow it to focus on increasing beef exports from Brazil to Asia and the US, it said in a statement.
Janet McCollum, Moy Park ceo, said: "Moy Park is a strong, growing and profitable company and has benefited greatly from being part of Marfrig Global Foods. We are very pleased and encouraged by this development, which is great recognition.
"JBS is the second largest global food business and the largest poultry company in the world with a significant poultry presence outside of Europe," she added.
"The Moy Park team, together with our dedicated farming partners, will continue to meet and exceed the needs of our customers and consumers throughout the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe providing innovative, top quality products underpinned by the highest standards of animal welfare.
£170M expansion plan
Moy Park, which has 14 sites across the UK, recently ramped up its output to 5M chickens a week, following a £170M expansion plan last year.
Output across Moy Park's UK operations increased by 60% in the past six years, growing from approximately 3.1M birds a week in 2009, UK and Ireland director Alan Gibson said.
An increase in demand for locally sourced, high-quality chicken had been attributed to the record rise in output, he added.
"This is a significant milestone for Moy Park," Gibson said. "The growth has been driven by demand from our customers and consumers who recognise Moy Park as a top quality, innovative and service-orientated business.”
More than 600 new jobs had been created across the UK as a result of the expansion plan, he added.