Sara Lee Chasing Smithfield as Buyer for Meat Products? (SLE, SFD)

Sara Lee Inc. (NYSE: SLE) plans to complete the spin-off of its coffee and tea division in June, and it is believed to be looking for a buyer for its meat products division, which includes the Jimmy Dean and Hillshire Farm brands. One likely prospect is Smithfield Foods Inc. (NYSE: SFD), or at least that’s what Sara Lee’s bankers think, according to a report from Reuters.

Smithfield’s CFO revealed the story on a conference call today:

I can’t go more than three days at a time before I have a major New York bank or investment bank coming to us to say, “Boy, we would love to represent you in a Sara Lee acquisition.” I don’t think necessarily we’ll have to go to the table. I think the table will come to us.

Smithfield will look at the possibility of buying Sara Lee’s meat business, but, their CFO said, “There are many people out there that might have a greater interest in it than we do.”

Sara Lee’s shares are up about 1.25% at $21.58 in a 52-week range of $15.66-$22.04. Smithfield’s shares are down -1.8% at $22.41 in a 52-week range of $17.79-$25.12. Smithfield posted worse-than-expected earnings earlier this morning.