JBS, the acquisitive Brazilian meat giant, has unveiled another US takeover – but not the purchase of hog giant Smithfield Foods which has been rumoured in the market.

The world's biggest meat group said it had paid $24m for McElhaney Feedyard, an Arizona-based cattle feedlot operation with capacity for 130,000 head at a time.

The takeover is the latest in a string of acquisitions, including September's purchases on the same day of US chicken giant Pilgrim's Pride and Brazil's Bertin, deals which propelled JBS to sector leadership.

Smithfield speculation

However, it falls short of the takeover of Smithfield which many investors have been expecting, after the Valor Economico newspaper said that JBS was looking for deals to keep its lead over Brazilian rival Marfrig.

Marfrig two weeks ago marked its own entrance, in force, into the US market by paying $1.3bn for burger supplier Keystone Foods – its 38^th takeover in three years.

Valor Economico on Tuesday reported that JBS may seek to revive talks with Smithfield, which ended the year to April with net debts of $2.7bn – a hefty 6.6 times its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, a key metric for assessing leverage.

JBS two years ago bought Smithfield's beef subsidiary.

Neither company has commented on the speculation, which sent JBS shares down 5% in Sao Paolo, and temporarily revived Smithfield stock, which remains near its lowest levels for seven months.

'Strong believers'

Wesley Batista, the chief executive of JBS's US operations, said that the group was "very pleased" with the purchase of McElhaney, and its "state of the art" facilities.

These would allow JBS to liaise with ranchers to "customise the animal diet to suit the needs of our many customers, not only in the US but around the world".

"As I have said previously, we are strong believers in the US livestock community," he added.

JBS shares c;psed 3.4% higher at R$76.90 in Sao Paolo.