October 31, 2006

Pilgrim's Pride, the second largest chicken producer in the US, has announced it would extend its offer to buy Gold Kist common stock Monday (Oct 30).

Pilgrim's Pride said its offer to purchase all outstanding shares of Gold Kist Inc common stock for US$20.00 per share in cash still stands.

The offer and withdrawal rights would be valid until Nov 29, 2006, unless further extended. They were supposed to have expired last week.

Pilgrim's Pride says that, as of midnight on October 27, 2006, about 33 percent of Gold Kist's outstanding shares had been tendered and not withdrawn.

The announcement came on the heels of an intended 5 percent cut in chicken production announced by Pilgrim's Pride.

Despite the cutback, the company promised the effect of this cutback on its contracted growers would be minimal.

Pilgrim's Pride president and chief executive officer, O.B. Goolsby Jr. reiterated his point tha reducing overall supply to better match demand is a crucial aspect to help return the industry to more normalized levels.