Smithfield Foods to Be Sold to Chinese Meat-Processing Company for $4.7 Billion

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Smithfield Foods Incorporated (NYSE:FSD) (Smithfield, Virginia), the world's largest pork producer, is set to go private in a $4.7 billion sale to Shuanghui International Holdings Limited (Hong Kong), a leading stakeholder in China's largest meat-processing enterprise. The deal's total value is about $7.1 billion, including debt.

Shareholders of Smithfield will receive $34 per share under terms of the deal announced Wednesday--a 31% premium to Smithfield's closing stock price of $25.97 on Tuesday. The boards of both companies have approved the merger, but it still must be cleared by Smithfield shareholders and U.S. regulators.

The Smithfield-Shuanghui deal would likely represent the biggest purchase of a U.S. company by a Chinese company. China, including Hong Kong, is the third-largest market for U.S. pork, behind Mexico and Japan.

According to Industrial Info's Online Plant Database, Smithfield Foods and its various operating units have 28 operational facilities across the U.S., with more than $125 million in project activity currently being developed. Some of the project activity includes an $85.5 million expansion of a facility in North Carolina, a $10 million hog farm expansion in Texas, and a $4 million cooler addition at a facility in South Dakota.

Industrial Info's database of capital and maintenance expenditures of the Food and Beverage Industry across North America and the Sugar Processing Industry and Water Desalination Segment worldwide has current expenditures that total more than $41.9 billion and tied to more than 1,950 projects with an active status.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.