China's WH Group agrees to buy two Romanian packaged meats producers

The agreement is conditional upon, among other things, obtaining anti-monopoly approval from the relevant regulatory authorities, the company said in a statement.

The value of the deal was not disclosed.

"The Group expects the acquisitions to give Smithfield a leading position in the Romanian packaged meats market with a branded portfolio of products sold in the higher margin traditional channel," the company noted.

Elit and Vericom operate three packaged meats factories, five distribution centres and related assets in Romania. The two companies manufacture and sell, through a nationwide distribution network to over 12,000 customers, approximately 25,000 metric tons of branded, packaged meats annually. According to the WH Group's statement, the two companies' capacity could grow to 45,000 metric tons.