WASHINGTON — A large shareholder of global pork giant Smithfield Foods called Monday for the company to be broken up rather than sold to a major Chinese meat processor, in order to maximize its value.
The move potentially throws a spanner into Shuanghui International's push to lock in a strong supply of pork by taking over Smithfield, the world's largest hog farmer.
Investment group Starboard Value, which holds a 5.7 percent stake in the US farm-to-supermarket meat company, said that Shuanghui's $4.7 billion, $34-a-share offer last month deeply undervalues Smithfield.
Including debt, the bid by Shuanghui — which controls China's largest pork processor — values Smithfield at $7.1 billion.
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