By Colin Kellaher

Buying and selling in shares of Sanderson Farms Inc. is halted premarket Friday amid rising hypothesis that U.S. regulators will approve the $4.5 billion acquisition of the poultry processor.

The Wall Road Journal earlier this week reported that the Justice Division was in talks with Cargill Inc. and Continental Grain Co., which final yr agreed to pay $203 a share for Sanderson, on potential concessions that might pave the best way for the deal to shut.

Sanderson final month mentioned the deal would not shut by the tip of June as anticipated, as regulators continued to assessment the potential results on competitors within the poultry sector, and warned that the businesses may not fulfill the closing situations to the deal by the Aug. eight termination date.

Sanderson shares have traded above the takeover worth, rising to as excessive as $221.63 on June 28, amid hypothesis that the deal, which some buyers have mentioned undervalues the corporate, may disintegrate. The inventory ended Thursday’s session at $204.

The acquisition of Sanderson by agribusiness big Cargill and agricultural funding agency Continental would mix the third-largest U.S. hen firm with Wayne Farms LLC, a poultry firm owned by Continental, to kind a brand new firm representing roughly 15% of U.S. hen manufacturing.

–Patrick Thomas contributed to this report.

Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 22, 2022 06:46 ET (10:46 GMT)

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