World Perspectives
livestock

Common Thread: Pork for China

In yesterday's market commentary we noted (as did Gary Blumenthal in his policy comments) that the owners of the largest Chinese meat packing company, Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd., had agreed to purchase Smithfield Foods Inc., the largest U.S. hog producer and pork processor. In 2012 Smithfield had revenues of about $13 billion. The price of the proposed purchase is $4.7 billion, or $7.1 billion including Smithfield's debt. It seems to us that this proposed transaction deserves a closer look because it inevitably will involve some of the stress points in today's food chain as well as give various critics of the food chain to sound off.The purchase of Smithfield would be the largest Chinese takeover of a U.S. company by far. As su...

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From WPI Consulting

Infrastructure investment due diligence

On behalf of a Canadian oilseed processer WPI's team provided market analysis, econometric modeling and financial due diligence in support of a $24 million-dollar investment in a Ukrainian crush plant. Consistent with WPI's findings, local production to supply the plant and the facility's output have expanded exponentially since the investment. WPI has conducted parallel work on behalf of U.S., South American and European clients, both private and public, in the agri-food space.

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