Smithfield Wins Bid for Farmland Unit

Smithfield Foods Inc. said it won an auction for Farmland Industries Inc.’s pork business.

As part of the deal, Smithfield, based in Smithfield, Va., would pay $367.4 million in cash for almost all the assets of the Kansas City, Mo., company’s pork division, Farmland Foods.

Smithfield also would assume $90 million in pension obligations, boosting the value of the transaction to $457.4 million.

Smithfield rival Cargill Inc. of Minnetonka, Minn., essentially matched but would not top Smithfield’s final bid, a Cargill spokesman said.

Shares of Smithfield rose $1.64, or 8.5%, to $20.85 on the New York Stock Exchange.