Smithfield Foods to be bought by Chinese firm Shuanghui International
Smithfield Foods, whose signature hams helped make it the world’s largest pork producer, is being bought by a Chinese firm in a deal that marks China’s most significant takeover of an American consumer brand.
The $7.1 billion takeover by Shuanghui International touches several sensitive fronts at once — the quick rise of Chinese investment in the U.S., the acquisition of Smithfield’s animal genetic and other technology by a country considered America’s chief global competitor, and the wisdom of giving a major Chinese food company a foothold in the U.S....