- Activist fund Starboard "couldn’t bring home the bacon," writes MoneyBeat. The fund, which holds 5.7% of Smithfield Foods (SFD -0.6%) stock, conceded it could not find a better offer than Shuanghui's $34/share proposal after agitating to block the deal.
- The concession removes one of the few remaining potential roadblocks to the acquisition, after it passed U.S. government scrutiny and received recommendations from proxy solicitors ISS and Glass Lewis. A shareholder vote is scheduled for next week.