Pilgrim’s Pride acquired Moy Park, a poultry and prepared foods supplier with operations in the UK and Continental Europe, from JBS in a £1.0 billion ($1.3 billion) transaction.

The transaction was funded by a combination of Pilgrim’s cash on hand, existing credit facilities and a subordinated seller financing note issued by a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pilgrim’s to JBS, which the company intends to replace with the issuance of permanent financing.

According to a related 8-K filing, Rabobank New York Branch served as administrative agent and collateral agent for the company’s credit facilities.

Barclays acted as financial advisor to Pilgrim’s. Evercore acted as financial advisor to the special committee of the Pilgrim’s board of directors and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison acted as legal advisor.

“We are pleased to announce the acquisition of Moy Park, which will position Pilgrim’s to become a global player, with an improved and more stable margin profile on the chicken business and an expanded portfolio of prepared foods,” said Bill Lovette, Pilgrim’s CEO. “Following our successful acquisitions of GNP and the assets in Mexico, Moy Park represents a logical next step in the evolution of our geographical and brands footprint. The acquisition gives us access to the attractive UK and European markets, which advances our strategy of diversifying our portfolio to be more global while reducing volatility across our businesses.

“We will have new business opportunities through the addition of Moy Park’s fully integrated poultry production platform and its strong presence in prepared foods. Moy Park strengthens Pilgrim’s’ leading portfolio of brands and brings strong value-added innovation capabilities, access to new markets, a best-in-class production platform and strong farmer partner relationships. In addition, Moy Park shares Pilgrim’s long-standing commitment to become the best and most respected company in our industry.”

Pilgrim’s expects to achieve approximately $50 million in annualized synergies over the next two years, primarily from the optimization of sourcing and production, and cost savings in purchasing, production, logistics and SG&A.