"Lawyers will complete the due diligence this month and the deal should be completed in March," said director Antenor Barros Leal, estimating the transaction will cost Tyson 130 mln Brazilian reals (US$74.4 mln).

It is reported that the US company will acquire meatpacking units in Sao Paulo state with a capacity to slaughter 320,000 chickens a day.

Pena Branca is part of the family-owned Predileto Alimentos holding company, which also owns Moinhos Cruzeiro do Sul, a wheat milling company, but which is separate from the deal with Tyson.

If the deal passes, it will be Tyson's first chicken-processing facility in Brazil, the world's top chicken exporter.