VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Sigma Alimentos and Shuanghui International Holdings on Monday agreed to share ownership of Spanish canned ham and hotdog processor Campofrio Food Group SA. The co-ownership deal is worth $957 million.

Hong Kong-based Shuanghui International Holdings intends to offer a counter bid for Spanish meat processor Campofrio. Mexican food company Sigma Alimentos earlier offered Campofrio a takeover deal worth EUR695 million.

The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported on Wednesday including Sinopec, Apache, AMR, US Airways, Deutsche Bank, EDF, Oxford, Andor, Bank Zachodni WBK, Shuanghui, Campofrio, OCZ, Toshiba and CVS Caremark.

Thomson Reuters publication IFR earlier reported that Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Standard Chartered were among the banks hired by Shuanghui International Holdings in its upcoming IPO.

In a meeting on Tuesday, a whopping 96% of Smithfield Foods Inc shareholders voted in favor of the USD4.7 billion acquisition by Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd.

Shuanghui International Holdings and Smithfield Foods Inc released a joint statement saying they received another clearance from the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment on the food firms' USD4.7 billion takeover deal.

According to a Reuters report, the US government would likely give its approval for the Smithfield Food Corp. and Shuanghui International Holdings USD4.7 billion deal.

A Thailand based trader was ordered to pay USD5.2 million to settle civil charges filed against him for publicly trading call options and single stock futures before the announced acquisition plan of Shuanghui International Holdings for Smithfield Foods Corp.

According to activist hedge fund Starboard Value, there had been several investors who were willing to pay more for Smithfield Foods than the offered price of China's Shuanghui International Holdings.

US investment firm Starboard Value LP voiced his opposition of the Smithfield Foods Inc.'s takeover bid by Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd. in a letter addressed to his co-shareholders on Tuesday.

The China-based holdings company intends a Hong Kong IPO once the deal with the US pork producer is completed.

The acquisition of Smithfield Foods Inc. by a Chinese company has raised contradictions in the US over its benefits.