Brazil-JBS-Swift deal settlement could be close.

UNITED STATES-JBS-SWIFT.

The status hearing in the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against JBS S.A. has been delayed a second time. Now it is set for March 6, 2009 at 10 a.m. in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Previously the hearing was moved back to Thursday from its originally scheduled date of Jan. 16, 2009.

JBS spokesman Chandler Keys has said that the two sides continue to talk about options for settling the suit, in which the DOJ seeks to block JBS’s acquisition of National Beef Packing Co. However, as of this week he indicated that no actual settlement offer had yet been made.

However on Friday evening. we were informed that a settlement may be in the offing.