JBS IPO faces new opposition from investors
Investor Letter to SEC JBS Investor Briefing JBS Investor Presentation Joint Press Release
Thirty-eight investors and NGOs urge shareholders to suspend investment in JBS as SEC application delays continue
JBS’ plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange have faced mounting scrutiny over the past year from environmental NGOs, policymakers and animal welfare groups. Now, the latest opposition to the meat giant’s planned Initial Public Offering (IPO) comes from the investment community itself.
Eighteen investors, representing US $22.2 billion in assets under management, have co-signed a letter to SEC Chair Gary Gensler, raising serious concerns over JBS’ inaccurate disclosures related to its climate targets and environmental impacts. The letter alleges that JBS continues to mislead investors and urges the SEC to safeguard US stock market participants. This marks the first time investors have collectively voiced concerns over JBS’ planned dual listing.
Annie Sanders, Director of Shareholder Advocacy at Green Century, said:
“JBS has a long history of misleading investors by exaggerating its environmental track record and minimizing environmental risks. We urge the SEC to reject JBS’ registration until it aligns its environmental rhetoric with its true environmental impacts.”
In parallel, 20 leading NGOs have released a new briefing for investors, outlining key risks in JBS’ renewed SEC application. This follows a prior warning issued to over 2,000 investors a year ago, which flagged governance and climate concerns related to JBS’ dual listing. The updated investor briefing – led by Global Witness and Mighty Earth – reveals that JBS has removed references to ‘zero tolerance’ to the invasion of protected areas, including Indigenous lands and environmental conservation zones, from its latest SEC application. This omission is particularly alarming, given that last year JBS was linked to more than 125,000 hectares of Amazon and Cerrado deforestation, with nearly 60% – or 73,600 ha – occurring in or nearby Indigenous lands.
Gemma Hoskins, Senior Director at Mighty Earth, said:
“JBS poses a huge threat to increased deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon and Cerrado and the rights of Indigenous people. Investors deserve the truth about JBS’ failure to come clean on the full impact of its massive meat operations, given the company has no validated plans to reduce its outsized climate emissions. We’re urging the US Securities and Exchange Commission to reject the JBS IPO.”
Other significant developments since the initial warning to investors last year include a substantial increase in JBS’ liabilities from criminal, civil and other legal proceedings, rising from $1.7 billion in July 2023 to $3.6 billion in the June 2024 SEC filing. Additionally, JBS USA is being sued in the State of New York for an allegedly ‘unsubstantiated and misleading’ net zero 2040 target, and the company has been de-listed from the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for failing to submit a climate plan. The recent surge of opposition to JBS’ IPO listing was discussed in a recent Mighty Earth webinar.
