October 3, 2006

Smithfield buys ConAgra meats operations for US$571 million

Smithfield Foods Inc on Monday (Oct 2) said it completed its acquisition of the branded meats business of ConAgra Foods for US$571 million in cash.

When Smithfield originally announced the deal in July, the company said US$100 million of its stock would be part of the deal. Smithfield and ConAgra later amended their agreement, reducing the purchase price by US$4 million and making it an all-cash payment.

The deal includes the packaged meats and turkey products sold under the Armour, Butterball, Eckrich, Margherita, Longmont and LunchMakers brands.