Smithfield Foods, Inc., Smithfield, Va., announced plans to acquire Clougherty Packing LLC, Los Angeles, from Hormel Foods Corp., Austin, Minn., for $145 million. Through this agreement, which is expected to be complete within a month, Smithfield will add the Farmer John and Saag's Specialty Meats brands to its lineup as well as two processing facilities and three farms to its operations.

"By folding Farmer John into our operations, we are better positioned to take advantage of our long-term strategic growth goals, which includes an increasingly diversified customer and consumer base and greater supply chain efficiency," says Kenneth Sullivan, president and CEO of Smithfield Foods. "As we continue this transition and expand our operations, we are proud to welcome these new West Coast employees into our growing Smithfield family."

Clougherty Packing LLC is a leading integrated producer and processor of a full line of branded pork products, including the Farmer John brand of bacon and sausages brand and the Saag's Specialty Meats brand of deli meat and specialty sausage. Along with two California-based processing facilities, Smithfield will acquire three PFFJ LLC farms in Arizona, California and Wyoming, adding 2,000 employees to Smithfield's total workforce.