Vicentin Seeks to Restructure Its Meat Business and Turns to Justice for Financial Assistance to Friar

After reactivating its main industrial units and normalizing part of its operations, Nueva Vicentin is now looking to consolidate an integration scheme among various assets linked to the meat business. In this context, it presented a request to the judge of the bankruptcy case, Fabián Lorenzini, to unlock a guarantee that would allow it to formalize a loan of $4.27 billion to the meatpacking company Friar, one of the key companies for the economy of northern Santa Fe.

The financing was agreed upon on June 25 and is exclusively intended for the working capital of the meatpacking plant, including the purchase of livestock, raw materials, supplies, services, and the payment of social security contributions. The contract stipulates an annual interest rate of 39.9% and a repayment term of one year.

However, to complete the operation, Friar must establish a first-degree mortgage on its industrial plant in Reconquista. This step cannot currently be realized due to the precautionary measures in place on assets linked to the Vicentin universe in the criminal case investigating the alleged emptying of the company. For this reason, the firm requested authorization from the Justice to lift that restriction solely for the purpose of establishing the guarantee.

In the presentation, the company argued that if the mortgage could not be executed, the disbursement would remain as an unsecured loan, with a less favorable impact on the assets of the fund provider. It also recalled that it holds a minority equity stake in Friar, so preserving the operational continuity of the meatpacking plant also means safeguarding the value of that asset.

Behind the financial assistance lies a broader objective than merely sustaining Friar. The company aims to reactivate a circuit that historically integrated various business units of Vicentin.

In recent days, animals have begun to enter Los Corrales de Nicanor again, the feedlot located in northern Santa Fe with a capacity to house 30,000 heads, which had been practically inactive. The plan includes gradually increasing the stock to supply the meatpacking plant, while part of the animal feed will come from the dried distillers grains produced by the bioethanol plant in Avellaneda, one of the assets that resumed operations after the reorganization process.

The strategy aims to generate synergies between the bioenergy business, livestock production, and meat industrialization, in a context where Friar continues to be one of the main private employers in Reconquista and a relevant player in beef exports.

Vicentin's offensive is not limited to the meat business. As reported by Ámbito, the company also submitted the highest bid to acquire Alimentos Refrigerados S.A. (ARSA), the former producer of yogurts and desserts from SanCor, currently in bankruptcy.

The proposal amounts to $2.5 million for all assets, including the industrial plants of Monte Cristo and Arenaza, the commercial brands, and the rest of the company's assets. Additionally, it requested authorization to temporarily operate the company while the judicial process advances, arguing to preserve the value of the assets.

Although they pertain to different businesses, both operations reflect the same strategy: to take advantage of bankruptcy and restructuring processes to recover industrial assets, reintegrate them into a productive logic, and expand the scope of the new phase that Vicentin is undergoing.

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