Smithfield Foods, a wholly owned subsidiary of the WH Group is investigating the feasibility of being re-listed according to the Wall Street Journal.
The WH Group acquired Smithfield in 2013 for $4.7 billion and was accordingly de-listed. Recently, the company initiated a program of consolidation closing hog farms in the mid-west and a plant in Charlotte, NC.
Since acquisition of Smithfield, the company has engendered adverse publicity due to corporate ownership by a company based in China. It is possible that the intended re-listing of Smithfield may have the objective of diminishing scrutiny and criticism by politicians and welfare advocates by attempting to re-establish image as a U.S. company.