Shuanghui, Sigma agree over Campofrio

Mexican frozen food company Sigma and Shuanghui International Holdings of China reached a deal on Monday to share ownership of Spanish meat processor Campofrio in a deal that values the company at 700 million euros ($957 million).

The deal gives Sigma an initial 44.7 percent of Campofrio, a household name in Spain, and allows Shuanghui to keep its 37 percent stake in the canned ham and hot dog group without having to launch a full takeover bid itself.

Sigma, part of Mexican conglomerate Alfa, will launch a bid to delist the remaining 18 percent of Campofrio from the stock market following the agreement with Shuanghui, the two companies said in a joint statement on Monday.

Campofrio shareholders with 44.5 percent of the company had already backed Sigma's 6.8 euro per share bid last month, but the intentions of Shuanghui, which inherited its stake after buying Smithfield Foods in September, were unclear.

Under the Monday deal, Shuanghui will sell shares to Sigma at 6.9 euros each to bring its stake below 30 percent, the legal requirement for launching a full bid, and then buy them back to become Campofrio's second-largest shareholder.

The Spanish meat processor, whose major products are hot dogs and canned ham, recorded a net profit of 1.8 million euros in the first nine months of this year, a reduction of 2.9 million euros from the same period of 2012.

Targeting Campofrio, Mexico's frozen food company Sigma Alimentos issued its 695 million euro takeover offer to the company on November 14.