Starboard Value LP, the activist hedge fund that owns a big
stake in Smithfield Foods Inc. (SFD), is hiring advisers to help
press its case for a different deal for the pork producer than one
already agreed to with China's Shuanghui International Holdings
Ltd., according to people familiar with the matter.
Smithfield agreed in May to be bought by Shuanghui for $34 a
share, or $4.7 billion, in what would be the biggest Chinese
takeover of a U.S. company if it is completed.
Last month, Starboard announced it had taken a 5.7% stake in
Smithfield, the world's largest hog farmer and pork processor.
Starboard argued then that Smithfield, based in the Virginia town
of the same name, would be worth more if it were broken up into
three parts--U.S. pork production, hog farming and international
sales of fresh and packaged meats--and then sold.
Starboard has hired merger-advisory firms Moelis & Co. and
Business Development Asia, or BDA, to help with its effort to get a
better deal for Smithfield shareholders. The firms will be tasked
with trying to find buyers for the pieces of the company, the
people said.
Smithfield shares closed Friday unchanged at $32.91 on the New
York Stock Exchange.
Write to Dana Cimilluca at dana.cimilluca@wsj.com and Sharon
Terlep at sharon.terlep@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires