World’s biggest pork producer Smithfield raises $522 million in IPOWorld’s biggest pork producer Smithfield raises $522 million in IPO
Smithfield warned in its earlier filing that new immigration legislation or increased enforcement efforts could raise its costs or disrupt operations.

By Katrina Compoli
Smithfield Foods Inc.’s initial public offering raised $522 million, with shares pricing below the marketed range.
The world’s largest pork producer and an indirectly owned subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed WH Group Ltd., sold about 26 million shares for $20 each, according to a statement.
Smithfield and its owner offered 17.4 million shares each for $23 to $27 apiece, a previous filing showed. WH Group, which acquired Smithfield more than a decade ago, will maintain control of the company after the listing.
The offering adds to momentum in the recovering US IPO market. First-time share sales rose to $43 billion last year, 64% higher than 2023 but below the average in the decade prior to the pandemic, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Well-known brands
Smithfield produces packaged meats and fresh pork and sells them under well-known brands including Eckrich, Nathan’s Famous and its eponymous line. It also has a hog production business, which helps supply its fresh pork segment.
The Smithfield, Virginia-based company had net income of $581 million on revenue of $10.2 billion for the nine months ending Sept. 29, compared with a net loss of $2 million on revenue of $10.6 billion a year earlier, according to a filing.
The company has been streamlining its operations ahead of its listing, separating its European operations into a standalone business in August. In December, Smithfield agreed to transfer part of its hog farming operations to a new venture controlled by Murphy Family Ventures LLC. It’s also sold its hog production assets in Utah and some farms in Missouri in recent months, the filing shows.
Its Chinese parent is headed by 84-year-old Chair Wan Long, whose wealth is valued at over $3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Born in a village near Luohe in China’s central Henan province, Wan dropped out of high school and joined the army in 1960. His first job was at WH Group’s predecessor, Luohe Cold Storage, in 1968, where he worked his way up to become the factory’s general manager in 1984.
He then turned the factory into Shuanghui Group, which started trading on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 1998. The company was renamed WH Group in January 2014 and went public in Hong Kong the same year, making Wan a billionaire. The company acquired Smithfield for $4.7 billion in 2013 in the largest Chinese purchase of a US firm at the time.
President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, if enacted, will jolt labor-intensive industries like meat-processing. Smithfield warned in its earlier filing that new immigration legislation or increased enforcement efforts could raise its costs or disrupt operations.
Smithfield has been involved in a series of class actions alleging antitrust violations in the pork industry. The company has paid $194 million to settle claims against it, and has been named in similar claims and suits which it intends to defend against, according to the filing.
The offering is being led by Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Corp. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the filing shows. The company expects to list on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol SFD.
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