Oct 1, 2006 12:00 PM

Pilgrim's Pride Corp has notified Gold Kist Inc that it will commence a tender offer to purchase all of the outstanding shares of Gold Kist common stock for $20 per share in cash.

The offer represents a 55% premium over Gold Kist's closing stock price Aug 18, 2006, the last day of trading before Pilgrim's notified Gold Kist's board of directors that it was offering $20 per share in cash for the company. The transaction is valued at about $1 billion, plus the assumption of around $144 million of Gold Kist's debt.

The tender offer is scheduled to expire Oct 27, 2006, at midnight EDT unless extended.

“As we have stated on numerous occasions, we would have preferred to work together with Gold Kist and its board of directors to negotiate a mutually beneficial agreement for our respective shareholders, employees, business partners, and other stakeholders,” said O B Goolsby Jr, president and chief executive officer of Pilgrim's Pride. “Unfortunately, Gold Kist has not taken any meaningful steps to reach such an agreement, and we have been forced to take our offer directly to Gold Kist shareholders.”