WARSAW – May 30, 2019 – Greenberg Traurig, LLP advised Smithfield Foods, the largest pork processor in the world, on finalizing the acquisition of the remaining 66.5% of shares of Pini Polonia, a company operating the largest and most modern pork slaughterhouse in Poland, located in Kutno. The deal was considered transformative because of the significant increase in the size of Smithfield Foods’ European operations. Completion of this transaction means that Smithfield Foods’ Polish assets will now include the entire Polish business previously owned by the Pini family, i.e. Pini Polska and Hamburger Pini, both operating within the processed pork meat industry, Royal Chicken (greenfield investment project) and Pini Polonia.
The acquisition of the Polish assets from Pini family represents the largest deal on the red meat market in Poland. Greenberg Traurig provided multi-disciplinary legal services with respect to a wide range of legal aspects of the project from M&A to tax, including representation of the client in merger proceedings before the European Commission and the Polish Competition Authority, securing unconditional clearances for the client.
The team was led by Partner Michał Fereniec. Partner Robert Gago was responsible for all merger clearance aspects of this transaction. The strategic supervision over the transaction was carried out by Senior Partner Lejb Fogelman.
Smithfield Foods Inc. of the US, is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of WH Group Limited, the largest pork company in the world. It is primarily engaged in pig production, pig slaughtering, and the processing and distribution of packaged meats and fresh pork through its subsidiaries and affiliates in the US, Mexico, Poland, Romania, and the UK. Pini Polonia, is a company operating a single pork slaughterhouse located in Kutno, Poland. In addition to the slaughtering of pigs, Pini Polonia supplies pork meat to retailers and to plants for further processing.
About Greenberg Traurig, LLP: Greenberg Traurig, LLP is an international, multi-practice law firm with approximately 2,000 attorneys serving clients from 39 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
Greenberg Traurig Grzesiak sp.k. was named the 2019 and 2018 Most Innovative Law Firm of the Year for Poland by International Financial Law Review (IFLR) and the 2017 Law Firm of the Year in Poland by Chambers and Partners. Greenberg Traurig was ranked as number one in the Mergermarket Global & Regional M&A Report 2018 with respect to the value of M&A transactions handled in Poland in 2018. The total value of the transactions on which Greenberg Traurig advised its clients amounted to USD 2.807 billion. Greenberg Traurig in Poland provides legal services to the largest Polish and international companies and institutions in Central Europe and beyond. The Warsaw office has over 100 lawyers considered to be the leading lawyers in Poland. Team members are regularly recognized as leaders in numerous practice areas. Chambers Global, Chambers Europe, IFLR1000, and EMEA Legal 500 consistently rank them among the top tiers in the areas of Corporate/M&A, Capital Markets, Private Equity, project financing, competition law, court and arbitration proceedings, tax as well as such fields as: Real Estate, Energy, Banking and Finance, Insurance, and TMT.
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