ConAgra set to sell meat divisions
red-meat business in the United States and Australia.
US company ConAgra Foods Inc. is about to announce the sale of its red-meat business in the United States and Australia.
ConAgra has come to a verbal agreement to sell its beef-, pork- and lamb-processing operations, as well as its cattle-feeding operations and Australia Meat Holdings. It is beleived that the official confirmation of the deal should be made within the next week.
The buyer is an investment group led by George Gillett, owner of a number of ski resorts and other leisure orientated enterprises in the US. ConAgra will retain several operations, including Signature Meats in Omaha, which produces hamburgers and other processed meat products.
ConAgra may also retain several of its existing brand names, including Armour, Swift and Signature.
Among ConAgra's six U.S. beef-processing plants - capable of processing 20,600 head of cattle a day - is a facility in Omaha and one in Grand Island. The company also operates a sausage plant in Omaha.
