JBS Foods SA, a Brazilian company with U.S. headquarters in Greeley, is set to go live on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on June 13. The move comes as the company continues to face scrutiny over past legal and regulatory issues, including allegations of bribery, price fixing, and child labor law violations. In February, JBS Foods, the largest meat company in the world, announced a $50 million expansion of its facility in Greeley. The facility in Greeley has faced various allegations of pollution, labor and safety violations, discrimination, and human trafficking.
JBS announced in July 2023 that it was pursuing a dual stock market listing in Brazil and the United States. In May, 2025, JBS announced the shareholders approved the dual listing. "With the dual listing, we seek a corporate structure that better reflects our global presence and diversified international operations, while facilitating the implementation of our growth and value-creation strategy.” JBS Global CFO Guilherme Cavalcanti, said in the statement. “This step is expected to further unlock value for JBS, providing broader access to investors and more competitive interest rates, thereby expanding our ability to finance growth at a lower cost and accelerating our diversification strategy.”
The listing of JBS on the NYCE was originally scheduled for June 12, but was pushed back to June 13 due to procedural delays. The dual stock listing may offer new opportunities for growth, but there aren’t any specific plans happening at the Greeley branch aside from the $50 million expansion announced in February.
Mighty Earth, a Washington D.C.-based environmental advocacy nonprofit known for targeting agribusiness for deforestation, sent a legal notice to the NYSE on June 11. The notice alleges that JBS Foods profits from criminal conduct by selling cattle that are raised on illegally deforested land in Brazil. The legal notice alleges that NYSE is facilitating the transfer of criminal proceeds to shareholders, and thus they are allegedly in violation of the Lacey Act, an anti-money laundering law.
In April, the Guardian reported that JBS issued a statement to the outlet denying the claims of deforestation in the Amazon Rain Forest. “Drawing inferences and conclusions from a limited sample of 30 farmers while disregarding that JBS has over 40,000 registered suppliers is entirely irresponsible,” the company said. “While the sector-wide challenges are significant and larger than any one company can solve on its own, we believe JBS has an in-depth and robust series of integrated policies, systems, and investments that are making a material and positive impact on reducing deforestation risks.”
On January 13, the U.S. Department of Labor entered into an agreement with JBS in which the company would provide $4 million to prevent child labor practices. In 2023, the Department of Labor fined several meatpacking companies for child labor violations, including four children who were working at JBS plant in Greeley. JBS did not respond to the Longmont Leader’s request for comment by the time of publication.
More than 3,800 people are employed by JBS in Greeley.
