010657 Smithfield Closes Purchase of Pinnacle FoodsJune 29, 2001Smithfield, VA - Smithfield Foods, Inc. announced the closing of its purchase of approximately 13 million shares or 50% of the outstanding common shares of Pinnacle Foods, Inc. for $6 million. This is Smithfield Foods' second transaction in the last week to accelerate its case-ready business in the Northeast. Smithfield will combine its distribution capabilities with Pinnacle and recently-acquired Moyer Packing Company to offer better service and a greater variety of pre-priced, pre- packaged case-ready products to food retailers. Pinnacle produces pork, beef, lamb and veal; Moyer is a beef processor. Pinnacle and Moyer are based in Pennsylvania. Pinnacle expects sales of about $60 million this year. The agreement also calls for Smithfield Foods to provide a $30 million revolving line of credit to Pinnacle for working capital and other purposes. A leader in the case-ready market, Smithfield Foods sold about 75 million pounds of case-ready pork to food retailers in fiscal 2001, more than three times the volume of the prior year.
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