Smithfield Foods, which has been owned by a Chinese company since 2013, might be listed on stock market again

WH pork plant in China. Sales from U.S. and Mexico made up
56% of its 2022 revenue. (Photo by Dominique Patton, Reuters)

Roughly a decade since its purchase, Smithfield Foods may go public again. Its Chinese parent company, WH Group, is working with banks to "list its shares as early as next year, according to people familiar with the matter. Deliberations are ongoing, and the timing could change," report David Sebastian, Patrick Thomas and Ben Dummett of The Wall Street Journal.

In 2013, WH purchased Smithfield for $4.7 billion, which was "one of the biggest takeovers of an American business by a Chinese company at the time and resulted in the delisting of Smithfield, which used to trade on the New York Stock Exchange," the Journal reports. "The combined company became the world's largest hog farmer and pork producer." WH Group said the Smithfield acquisition was "partly aimed at importing technology and expertise from Smithfield to improve WH's operations, especially in China."

A U.S. listing could help bolster the sector, which has been working to balance an "oversupply of pork from flat demand domestically and an industrywide drop in exports," the Journal reports. WH Group isn't the only company reviving plans for a public offering. "Brazil's JBS said during the summer that it plans to restart its yearslong effort to list its shares publicly in the U.S. JBS is the world's largest meatpacker and has a sizable U.S. pork business that competes with Smithfield."

GH's sales are spread throughout China, the United States, Mexico and some European markets; however, sales in the U.S. and Mexico "contributed 56% of the company's revenue in 2022, while its China business made up 34%," the Journal reports. "It employed about 104,000 employees globally at the end of last year, including roughly 40,000 in the U.S. and Mexico."