Maple Leaf Foods has decided to shelve its plans of selling its Burlington, Ontario, pork processing plant until markets rebounds, which will likely not happen before early 2010.

Despite active negotiations with several prospective purchasers, current economic conditions and credit markets have made it difficult to complete a satisfactory sale of its Ontario pork processing business.

"The current economic conditions and credit markets have created a less than ideal environment to sell any business," said Michael Vels, Chief Financial Officer of Maple Leaf Foods. "There is no immediate urgency to selling the Burlington business. It is an efficient and profitable business and we want to ensure we negotiate an offer that recognises the appropriate value for the business and meets the expectations of our shareholders."

The decision to sell the Burlington business resulted from the company's decision to refocus its growth in the value-added meat, meals and bakery businesses in October 2006, involving the divestiture or exit of several of its primary processing and other operations.

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. is a leading Canadian food processing company that has operations across Canada and in the US, Europe and Asia.