Dive Brief:
- Hillshire Brands says it will have separate talks with Tyson Foods and Pilgrim's Pride, the two rival meat-processors that are seeking to acquire the maker of Jimmy Dean sausages and Ball Park franks.
- Both Tyson and Pilgrim's have said that their offers to buy Hillshire are dependent upon Hillshire's abandoning its offer to buy Pinnacle Food.
- The most recent bid for Hillshire came from Pilgrim's, which offered to pay $55 a share -- well above the $50 offer from Tyson and the original $45 offer from Pilgrim.
Dive Insight:
The big loser in all this is likely to be Pinnacle. But it's worth noting that in agreeing to talk with Tyson and Pilgrim's, Hillshire made a point of saying that its board was not modifying or withdrawing its offer for Pinnacle.