(WSJ) Poultry giant Sanderson Farms Inc. is closing on a deal to sell itself to Cargill Inc. and Continental Grain Co. for about $4.5 billion.
The deal would value Sanderson above 30% the June market price when news emerged that the poultry was attracting bidders, equating to $203 per share.
The deal could be finalized as early as Monday and happens at a time Sanderson is seeing a surge in demand for chicken products.
Sanderson runs 13 poultry plants in North Carolina to Texas and processes up to 13.6 million chickens each week, making it the third-biggest chicken producer in the US.
The combination with Continental’s Wayne Farms LLC would create a new competitor, controlling about 15% of chicken production in the US.
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