UPDATE 2-Brazil Perdigao buys control of rival Eleva

(Adds stock swap part of deal)

SAO PAULO, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Brazil's No. 2 poultry and pork producer Perdigao SA (PRGA3.SA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Tuesday it bought a controlling stake in local rival Eleva Alimentos SA ELEV3.SA, which should give it a leading position in the local market.

Perdigao said it agreed to buy 23.17 million Eleva stocks, or 35.74 percent of its voting capital, paying 25.816 reais a share, which works out in a cash deal alone worth nearly 600 million reais ($343 million).

Under the deal, Eleva controlling shareholders will also get 15.46 million of Perdigao stocks in exchange for another 41.57 percent of Eleva's voting capital. Perdigao shares fetched 47.19 reais apiece on Tuesday.

"With these transactions, Perdigao will have shareholding control of Eleva, which becomes an integral subsidiary of Perdigao," the two companies said in a statement.

The companies said earlier they were in talks for a potential merger. Perdigao is the No. 2 poultry and pork producer in Brazil. Besides poultry and pork products, Eleva also sells dairy products and owns a popular milk brand in Brazil called Elege.

Perdigao had previously held merger talks with its larger rival, Sadia (SDIA4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)(SDA.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), but the deal never materialized because Perdigao said it wanted to remain independent. Now, joint revenues of Perdigao and Eleva surpass those of Sadia.

Perdigao reported sales of 5.5 billion reais in the first nine months of the year. Including Eleva, revenues totaled 7.4 billion, while Sadia's revenues in the same period were 6.9 billion reais.

Perdigao had a net profit of 90.2 million reais in the third quarter alone, a whopping 321 percent more than a year earlier, while Eleva netted 50.5 million reais. Sadia's profit was 188 million reais in the quarter, up 173 percent from year-ago.