SAO PAULO, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Food processors Minerva

and Marfrig told investors on Friday they

disagree over the termination of a contract involving the sale

of three beef plants in Uruguay.

Marfrig agreed to sell the Uruguayan assets to Minerva in

August 2023 for 675 million reais ($124.51 million).

The deal comes undone at a critical moment for Brazilian

beefpackers, who now face a new 50% tariff to sell beef and

other products to the United States, making ownership of plants

in other countries an advantage.

In a Friday securities filing, Marfrig said it decided to

terminate the contract because certain conditions were not met

under a 24-month period.

But Minerva, South America's largest beef exporter,

disagreed with Marfrig's assessment in a separate securities

filing.

Minerva said the contract remains in force, adding it will

continue to seek approval from local competition authorities to

complete the deal.

However, ranchers and meat sellers in Uruguay requested

Uruguay's competition watchdog to block the deal, which

effectively happened last year because the acquisition would

give Minerva approximately 43% of Uruguay's cattle slaughtering

capacity.

Faced with the regulatory obstacles, Minerva proposed

"remedies," including a pledge to sell two of the three plants

it would have acquired from Marfrig, according to public

disclosures.

The Uruguay deal is part of the broader sale of a total of

16 Marfrig slaughterhouses to Minerva for a total value of 7.5

billion reais ($1.38 billion).

Marfrig said the three plants involved in the negotiation

continue to operate normally.

($1 = 5.4212 reais)