Smithfield Foods to Acquire Nathan's Famous for $450 Million

By Chris Stiles • Wednesday, January 21 10:52 • Permanent Link

Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: SFD) has announced its definitive merger agreement to acquire all of Nathan's Famous, Inc. (NASDAQ: NATH) issued and outstanding shares for $102.00 per share in cash, representing an enterprise value of approximately $450 million.

Smithfield Foods has held an exclusive license from Nathan’s Famous since March 2014 to manufacture, distribute, market, and sell "Nathan’s Famous" branded hot dogs, sausages, corned beef, and certain other ancillary products through the retail channel, and to manufacture and distribute "Nathan’s Famous" branded hot dog and sausage products for the foodservice channel. This license is scheduled to expire in March 2032.

The acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to Smithfield’s adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations attributable to Smithfield. It is also expected to achieve annual cost synergies of approximately $9 million by the second anniversary of the deal closing.

The transaction represents a valuation of approximately 12.4x Nathan’s Famous’s LTM adjusted EBITDA and a multiple of approximately 10.0x post-synergies. Smithfield Foods expects to achieve annual cost synergies of approximately $9 million by the second anniversary of the deal closing.

The closing of the transaction is expected to occur in the first half of 2026, subject to satisfaction of certain conditions set forth in the merger agreement, including obtaining approval by the holders of a majority of the outstanding Nathan’s Famous common stock, expiration or termination of the applicable waiting period under the Hart-Scott Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended, approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), and other customary closing conditions.

Goldman Sachs acted as financial advisor to Smithfield Foods, while Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP acted as legal counsel. Jefferies acted as financial advisor and Akerman LLP acted as legal counsel for Nathan’s Famous. Today the company's shares have moved 0.17% to a price of $23.45. For more information, read the company's full 8-K submission here.

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