Swift & Co. to get new president

Swift & Co. will have a new president once the sale to a Brazilian company is completed next month.

Wesley Mendonça Batista will become the company’s new president, chief executive officer and a director, replacing Sam Rovit, who has had the position since July 1, 2005.

The change will become effective following the completion of Swift’s sale to J&F Participações S.A., which should come by mid-July.
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Batista is currently the executive director of operations of Brazil’s JBS S.A., Latin America’s largest beef processor, the vice president of its board of directors and a J&F partner. He is a member of the JBS founding family and has been employed in the beef industry his entire career, having served in various capacities at JBS since 1987.

“We are very grateful for Sam Rovit’s leadership during a very challenging time for both Swift and the beef industry,” Batista said in a press release.

“I look forward to bringing the JBS and Swift teams together to grow Swift into an even stronger company,” he added.

Rovit, in a prepared statement, said he is proud of Swift’s achievements over the past two years, namely its dramatic improvement in the U.S. beef business while maintaining leading positions in U.S. pork and Australian beef.

“I am confident that Wesley and the entire JBS/Swift team can collectively take the company to the next level as a leading global provider of beef and pork,” Rovit said.