At the same time, the company sees a promising outlook for the other units bought from its rival in Brazil, Argentina, and Chile, citing firm international demand for beef. That should underpin positive results in 2025 and organic growth of 10% next year.

“We will use the funds to reduce leverage and support the company’s deleveraging process,” said Edison Ticle, Minerva’s chief financial officer, speaking to reporters on Monday during Minerva Day, a meeting with analysts and investors.

After previously blocking the closure of the deal in Uruguay several times, Coprodec issued yet another negative decision last week.

CEO Fernando Queiroz said the company might appeal the ruling but is still considering it. The planned purchase of the Uruguayan plants in San José, Salto, and Colonia was part of a larger deal in which Minerva acquired 13 Marfrig plants across South America. The plants already acquired have been under Minerva’s control since October 2024, when that part of the deal was finalized.

Mr. Ticle mentioned that by the end of September, Minerva had already reached 100% of the expected synergies from the acquired units—a quarter earlier than initially forecasted. This indicates that the plants’ operational and commercial processes are now aligned with Minerva’s standards, he said. “This will allow us to run the fourth quarter with capacity utilization above 75%,” he added.

The executive estimated the units are delivering between R$350 million and R$400 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) per quarter. As a result, the annual EBITDA of the new plants could approach R$1.5 billion—even without the three in Uruguay.

“The performance numbers of the acquired plants are significantly better than what we announced at the time of the deal. We will probably revisit these figures next year,” Mr. Ticle said. The purchase agreement was announced to the market in August 2023.

Also at the event, Alexandre Mendonça de Barros, a partner at consultancy MB Agro and a Minerva board member, estimated the world could produce 1.5 million to 2 million tonnes less beef next year.

According to Mr. Ticle, beef prices are currently, on average, 15% higher in dollar terms than a year ago. “Beef prices have risen, and consumption hasn’t fallen. That probably signals a shift in the global price level,” added Minerva’s institutional relations director, João Sampaio.

Stressing that it was not new guidance, Mr. Ticle said Minerva’s 2025 EBITDA could range from around R$4.75 billion to R$5.2 billion for the entire company. Net revenue for the year is expected to reach between R$50 billion and R$58 billion. “We should end up very close to the top of the range,” he said.