JBS to Pay $83.5M SettlementJBS to Pay $83.5M Settlement

JBS has agreed to pay $83.5 million to settle antitrust claims that it conspired with other meat-packing companies to curb supply in the US beef market to artificially inflate prices.

Ranchers and other plaintiffs disclosed their proposed settlement with the Brazilian company and its US units on Friday in federal court in Minnesota. The settlement requires a judge’s approval.

The lawsuit filed in 2019 alleged JBS and other meat producers conspired to fix beef prices, in violation of US antitrust law. JBS denied any wrongdoing in agreeing to settle.

In a statement, JBS called the claims "frivolous and without merit" and said settling was in the best interest of the company. The lead plaintiffs’ attorneys declined to comment, AP News reported. The proposed settlement would resolve claims from two groups: producers that sold cattle to JBS for slaughter between 2015 and 2020, and individuals and others who held certain positions in live cattle futures traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

The terms require JBS to cooperate with the plaintiffs as they pursue related claims against remaining defendants Tyson Foods, Cargill, and National Beef. The settlement is the third for JBS, which earlier agreed to pay a combined $78 million to so-called direct purchasers and other buyers to settle their price-fixing claims in the litigation.

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In April 2023, a class action lawsuit stated the Brazilian meat company conspired with other producers to artificially raise the price of beef since 2015. In that suit, JBS was to pay a $25 million settlement. It was the second deal that the Brazilian beef giant and its US units have struck in the case, after they agreed in 2022 to pay $52.5 million to grocers and other plaintiffs that make up the "direct" beef purchaser class.