National Beef Acquires Brawley Beef

National Beef Acquires Brawley Beef

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (June 5, 2006) — National Beef Packing Co. LLC (National Beef) and its majority owner, U.S. Premium Beef LLC (USPB), announced June 1 their acquisition of Brawley Beef LLC of Brawley, Calif. The acquisition results in Brawley Beef contributing its assets in exchange for an ownership interest in USPB.

For National Beef, the acquisition of Brawley Beef creates a new relationship with its owners/producers in Arizona and California. Brawley Beef’s location 100 miles east of San Diego, Calif., and its extensive retail, foodservice and further-processing customers along the West Coast will enable National Beef to grow its presence to serve the western United States with high-quality beef products.

As part of the acquisition, National Beef will own and operate the Brawley Beef processing facility. This state-of-the-art beef processing plant, constructed in 2001, has capacity to process more than 400,000 cattle annually.

“The opportunity to integrate the Brawley plant into National Beef’s operations is significant for National Beef, giving us greater access to customers on the West Coast,” John Miller, National Beef chief executive officer, said in making the announcement.

Kansas City-based National Beef is the nation’s fourth-largest beef processor. It is the only major beef processing company in the United States with a majority of its ownership held by beef producers. With sales exceeding $4 billion annually and 12% market share, National Beef’s U.S. operations include Liberal and Dodge City, Kan.; Brawley, Calif.; Hummel’s Wharf, Penn.; Moultrie, Ga.; and Kansas City, Mo.

National Beef processes and markets fresh beef, case-ready beef and beef byproducts for domestic and international markets. Value-added beef is marketed under multiple brands, including of Black Angus Beef,™ Certified Premium Beef,™ Black Canyon Angus Beef,® Certified Angus Beef® (CAB®) and NatureSource™ Natural Angus Beef. For more information on National Beef, visit www.nationalbeef.com.

USPB processes U.S. fed beef at its plants in Liberal and Dodge City, Kan., and Brawley, Calif. More than 2,000 producers from 37 states have joined USPB to market cattle on the company’s grids. For more information about USPB, visit www.uspremiumbeef.com.

— adapted from a release provided by National Beef