Maple Leaf Foods Inc. has emerged as a potential takeover target in the rapidly consolidating global food sector.
Sources familiar with Maple Leaf Foods, Canada’s largest processor of meat and baked goods, said international food giants are circling the Toronto-based company as they scramble to lock up food sources for expanding emerging markets. The prize for many food buyers is meat, particularly pork, a valued commodity in China, which is struggling with outdated processing facilities and tainted meat scandals.
One interested Maple Leaf Foods buyer was Virginia-based Smithfield Foods Inc., the world’s largest hog producer, which agreed in late May to be acquired for $4.7-billion (U.S.) by China’s Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd. More recently, sources said, other U.S. and Asian companies have cast their eyes on the Toronto company, but it is unclear whether Maple Leaf Foods has entered any negotiations.
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