Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. plans to close its corporate headquarters in Pittsburg, Texas, and a satellite office in Atlanta as it merges operations with JBS SA, the Brazilian beef giant that bought a 64 percent stake in the chicken company last year for $800 million.
A total of 213 jobs will be eliminated, including 55 from the closure in Atlanta. Most corporate functions will be consolidated at JBS’s U.S. headquarters in Greeley, Colo., within about 60 days.
Pilgrim’s Pride, which employs 41,000 people worldwide, operates multiple feed mills, hatcheries, chicken-processing plants and prepared-foods facilities in Georgia. No production jobs will be affected, and those corporate employees who have lost their jobs have been notified over the past two weeks, the company said in a news release. Layoffs are slated to begin around June 14.
“We recognize that the closing of these two offices, particularly our headquarters facility in Pittsburg, will create pain and uncertainty for those employees who are being laid off, as well as the local community,” said Don Jackson, Pilgrim’s Pride president and chief executive.
Mr. Jackson said the company will maintain its production facilities and a small office in eastern Texas
Pilgrim’s Pride bought Atlanta-based poultry company Gold Kist Inc. for $1.1 billion in 2007.
