GlobeNewswire Inc | Oct 14, 2020 12:23AM EDT

October 14, 2020

GREELEY, Colo., Oct. 14, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pilgrims Pride Corporation (NASDAQ: PPC) today announced that it has entered into a plea agreement with the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division in respect to its investigation into the sales of broiler chicken products in the United States. In the plea agreement, which is subject to the approval of the United States District Court of Colorado, Pilgrims and the Antitrust Division agreed to a fine of $110,524,140 for restraint of competition that affected three contracts for the sale of chicken products to one customer in the United States. The agreement does not recommend a monitor, any restitution or probationary period, and provides that the Antitrust Division will bring no further charges against Pilgrims in this matter, provided the company complies with the terms and provisions of the agreement. Pilgrims expects to record the fine as a miscellaneous expense in its financial statements in the third quarter of 2020.

Pilgrims is committed to fair and honest competition in compliance with U.S. antitrust laws, said Fabio Sandri, Pilgrims CEO. We are encouraged that todays agreement concludes the Antitrust Divisions investigation into Pilgrims, providing certainty regarding this matter to our team members, suppliers, customers and shareholders.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, may be forward-looking statements. Words such as continues, may, will, expects, believes and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expected results.Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements include future developments related to the plea agreement, and the matters discussed herein, and other factors discussed in the risk factors sections of the Companys Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Annual Reports on Form 10-K on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any such statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable law.

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About Pilgrims

As a global food company with more than 58,000 team members, Pilgrims processes, prepares, packages and delivers fresh, frozen and value-added food products for customers in more than 100 countries. For more information, please visitwww.pilgrims.com.

Media Contact:Cameron BruettCorporate Affairscameron.bruett@jbssa.com 970.506.7801