Smithfield, which separated its European operations last year, confidentially filed for the U.S. IPO on Oct. 4. The IPO proceeds will be used for capital investments in infrastructure, automation and capacity expansion, Smithfield said.

Smithfield Foods, the world's largest pork producer, filed for an initial public offering in the US. Hong Kong-based WH Group, which purchased Smithfield for $4.7 billion in 2013, will sell some of its shares in the IPO,

Smithfield Foods, producer of the iconic Smithfield Ham and the largest pork producer in the world, will go public in an initial public stock offering.

Smithfield Foods Inc., the world’s largest pork producer, has filed for its initial public offering in the US, joining a growing number of firms pursuing market debuts this year.

The world’s largest pork supplier, Smithfield Foods, has filed for its initial public offering in the U.S. The company submitted its registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday and would sell shares of its common stock on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “SFD”.

The proposed listing comes amid pricing pressures in the pork industry and mounting public scrutiny over the agriculture industry's ties to China.

This marks a return to public trading circles for Smithfield, which went private more than a decade ago after being acquired by the WH Group, based in China. In mid-2024, WH Group announced that it was spinning off operations in the United States and Mexico and would focus on its business in China and Europe.

Smithfield has applied to list its shares of common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol SFD.

The date of the initial public offering, number of shares and price per share were not specified, but it implies China’s WH Group will go through with its plan to spin off