Beef Giant Looks to Go Green With $500 Million Foreign-Bond Sale

The world’s second-largest beef supplier is tapping the market for bonds aimed at protecting the environment as meat companies face growing criticism for contributing to climate change. Brazil’s Marfrig Global Foods SA, with operations spanning South America and the U.S., is selling as much as $500 million in so-called transition bonds, an instrument that could help less-than-green firms including oil companies, coal miners and agricultural businesses. Bookrunners include BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) SA, ING Groep (AS:INGA) NV and Banco Santander (MC:SAN) SA. Under the rules of the overseas sale, Marfrig is committing to using proceeds to only buy cattle from ranchers in the Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) region who comply with non-deforestation and other sustainable criteria such as animal welfare and fair-labor practices, according to Chief Financial Officer Marco Antonio Spada. The company sources about a fifth of the cattle it sends to slaughter from producers in that area. Marfrig is seeking to bolster its green credentials at a time when the meat industry is being thrust into a harsh spotlight for its greenhouse gas-footprint. Cows fuel global warming by contributing methane to the atmosphere, and grass cattle ranching is cited as the main cause for the increasing destruction of the Amazon forest in Brazil...MORE