ContiGroup Companies and Smithfield Foods announce JV completion

24/05/05 The United States, ContiGroup Companies, Inc. and Smithfield Foods, Inc. have announced the successful completion of an agreement to form a 50/50 joint venture between their respective cattle feeding businesses, ContiBeef LLC and MF Cattle Feeding, Inc.

Five Rivers Ranch Cattle Feeding LLC ("Five Rivers") is a stand-alone operating company, independent from both ContiGroup Companies and Smithfield Foods. Five Rivers is currently headquartered in Boulder, Colorado and has a combined total of 10 feedyards in Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas with a one-time total feeding capacity of 811,000 head. Five Rivers expects to sell cattle to multiple U.S. beef packing firms throughout the U.S. using a variety of marketing methods that were already in place at ContiBeef.

Five Rivers includes the six feedyards originally owned by ContiBeef, formerly a subsidiary of ContiGroup Companies, and the four feedyards owned by Smithfield Beef Group, a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods, since October 2004. The decision to form the joint venture was a result of both companies' long- term commitment to the beef industry and desire to better service their customers, as well as their expertise in feeding cattle.

ContiBeef LLC, formerly a wholly-owned subsidiary of ContiGroup Companies, Inc., has been one of the largest cattle feeding operations in the world marketing over one million head of cattle annually, most of which were company owned, with six feedlots located in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas providing a range of feeding and management services for outside customers. ContiGroup Companies, formerly Continental Grain Company, is a recognized leader in integrated poultry and pork production and cattle feeding, with nearly 200 years of experience in agribusiness and global trade based in New York.

The four cattle feedlots previously 100% owned by Smithfield Beef Group, a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods, have a one-time feeding capacity of 357,000 head and are located in Colorado and Idaho. Smithfield Foods, with annualized sales of $10 billion, is the leading processor and marketer of fresh pork and processed meats in the United States, as well as the largest producer of hogs. The Smithfield Beef Group is the fifth largest beef processor in the U.S.

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