Cargill and Continental Grain to buy Sanderson Farms for $4.53bn

Cargill and Continental Grain Company have announced that they will acquire poultry producer Sanderson Farms for $4.53 billion.

A joint venture between Cargill and Continental Grain will buy the Mississippi-based poultry business for $203 per share in cash, under the terms of the agreement announced today.

Upon completion of the transaction, Cargill and Continental Grain will combine the latter’s Wayne Farms subsidiary with Sanderson Farms to form a new, privately held US poultry company.

Wayne Farms CEO Clint Rivers will lead the business, which will operate poultry processing plants and prepared foods facilities across Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and Texas.

Wayne Farms’ customer relationships across the foodservice sector are expected to complement Sanderson Farms’ grocery and retail relationships.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of the year or in early 2022 and will be subject to regulatory and shareholder approval, and other customary closing conditions.

“We are proud to be joining with Cargill and Continental Grain and we are confident that they will be strong stewards of the Sanderson Farms team, brand and assets going forward,” said Joe Sanderson, chairman and CEO of Sanderson Farms.

“As part of the newly created company, Sanderson Farms and its new owners will remain committed to the employees, poultry producers, customers, communities, environment and animals under our care, and to continuing to deliver the highest quality products and the best service in our industry to our customers.”

Paul Fribourg, chairman and CEO of Continental Grain, added: “We are very happy to partner with Cargill with whom we have had a decades-long relationship between two family-owned companies.”

He continued: “Wayne Farms has been one of the most important and successful parts of Continental Grain for almost 60 years, so bringing together two great partners with two great poultry companies will ensure good things for our customers, our grower partners and our employees.”