JBS to seek damages from founders after Brazil shareholder vote

SAO PAULO: Shareholders in JBS SA on Friday cleared the way for the Brazilian food processor to sue its own controlling stakeholders and certain former managers, a rare victory for shareholder activism in Latin America’s largest economy. The vote was a win for JBS’s top minority shareholder, national development bank BNDES, which has been trying to hold Wesley and Joesley Batista, the heirs of the company’s founder, accountable for a plunge in JBS’ stock in 2017 after they confessed to bribing multiple government officials. BNDESPar, the development bank’s investment arm, which is JBS’s No. 2 shareholder with a 22 per cent stake, declined to comment on the vote. JBS said it will comply with the shareholders’ decision, without elaborating.

— Reuters