Shareholders of Smithfield Foods have approved a deal that sells the company to a Chinese firm. Smithfield owns John Morrell processing plant in Sioux Falls. The multi-billion dollar sale could be final by the end of the year.
South Dakota’s governor and other representatives traveled to China on a trade mission in April. The next month, the parent company of a Sioux Falls-based meat processing plant announced its plan to sell Smithfield Foods to a Chinese company called Shuanghui.
No one from the corporation is available to comment this week, but CEO Larry Pope spoke to reporters in May.
"I know how most people react to that: that folks are selling out to the Chinese," Pope said. "This is not selling out to the Chinese. This is Smithfield being part of a global organization. This guarantees the future."
Pope says a large shareholder wanted to split the company apart, but the sale to Shuanghui keeps the business together.
Tuesday’s agreement sells the Virginia-based company for $4.7 billion.