July 24, 2024

WH Group to spin off Smithfield Foods' US and Mexico operations with US listing

WH Group Ltd, the world's largest pork producer, announced it will spin off the US and Mexico businesses of Smithfield Foods Inc and take the pork company public in the US, Bloomberg reported.

This information was revealed in a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The announcement confirms a Bloomberg News report, which stated that WH Group had selected banks to arrange a US share sale aimed at raising at least US$1 billion.

Following the news, shares of Hong Kong-listed WH Group rose as much as 6.9% on Monday, after a 5.2% increase on July 19, 2024. By 10:44 am local time, the gain had pared down to 0.2%.

Smithfield Foods, which will continue to be a subsidiary of WH Group, recently closed a plant in North Carolina and has plans to shut another facility in Iowa. These moves are part of efforts to streamline its operations.

WH Group acquired Smithfield Foods in 2013, and the combined operation went public in 2014, raising more than US$2 billion.

-      Bloomberg