Cargill & Continental Grain complete acquisition of Sanderson Farms

Cargill and Continental Grain Company announced the completion of the previously announced acquisition of Sanderson Farms, by a joint venture between Cargill and Continental Grain. The acquisition was announced on 9 August 2021.

Sanderson Farms shareholders are receiving $203.00 per each share of common stock they owned as of immediately prior to the completion of the transaction. As a result of the completion of the transaction, Sanderson Farms’ shares will no longer trade on the NASDAQ beginning 22 July 2022.

As a part of the closing of the transaction, Cargill and Continental Grain have combined Sanderson Farms with Wayne Farms, a subsidiary of Continental Grain, forming a new privately held poultry business. The new business, named Wayne-Sanderson Farms, will be headquartered in Oakwood, GA. As previously announced, Clint Rivers, currently chief executive officer of Wayne Farms, has been appointed chief executive officer of the combined company.

Rivers said, “I am honored to lead the new Wayne-Sanderson Farms, which brings together a talented team with complementary operations and cultures and a strong commitment to employees, farmers and the communities where we operate. The new company is ideally positioned to continue to serve customers and consumers with high-quality and affordable products.”

Wayne-Sanderson Farms is a best-in-class US poultry company with a high-quality asset base, a strong operating culture, and an industry-leading management team and workforce. Operating chicken processing plants and prepared foods plants across Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Texas, Wayne-Sanderson Farms has state-of-the-art operations and will continue to invest in its stakeholders, workforce and in employee safety.

Joe F. Sanderson, Jr. said, “It has been an incredible privilege to lead the Sanderson Farms team over the last thirty-three years and to continue my family’s legacy by helping to nourish families across the country. I am proud of all we have achieved together, and I am confident that the fairness, honesty and integrity that has been synonymous with the Sanderson Farms name will carry on with Wayne-Sanderson Farms.”

BofA Securities acted as the financial advisor to Cargill and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (US) acted as legal counsel. Gibson Dunn & Crutcher acted as tax counsel. Centerview Partners acted as financial advisor to Sanderson Farms and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, Fishman Haygood LLP and Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, PLLC acted as legal counsel. Lazard acted as the financial advisor for Wayne Farms and Continental Grain, and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP acted as legal counsel. Also acting for Cargill and Continental Grain were Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP as special antitrust counsel and Jones Walker LLP as Mississippi counsel.