Cargill and Continental Grain have formed a joint venture to acquire Sanderson Farms, paying $203 per share in cash for a company that last year processed more than 4.8 billion pounds of meat.
The companies plan to combine Sanderson Farms with Wayne Farms, a Continental Grain subsidiary, to form a new, privately held poultry business. Operations will include poultry processing plants and prepared foods plants across Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and Texas.
Wayne Farms has more than 9,000 employees. It makes products under brand names including Wayne Farms fresh and prepared chicken; Platinum Harvest premium fresh chicken; Chef's Craft gourmet chicken; Naked Truth premium chicken and Ladybirdy premium chicken.
Laurel, Mississippi-based Sanderson Farms has 17,000 employees and 12 plants. It processes 13.6 million chickens per week.
The deal comes as chicken prices are surging. Wholesale chicken breast prices have been at or above $1.80 per pound since mid-April, a seven-year high, according to the Livestock Marketing Information Center. Last year at this time, they were $1.13 per pound...MORE
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