JBS Offers to Acquire Hillshire Brands for $5.6 Billion

JBS SA, the biggest meat producer, made an unsolicited $5.6 billion bid for Hillshire Brands Co., seeking to expand its sausage lineup and derail the company’s acquisition of Pinnacle Foods Inc.

JBS’s Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. unit offered $45 a share, it said in a statement today. The deal is contingent on Chicago-based Hillshire scrapping its $4.8 billion agreement to acquire Pinnacle. Pilgrim’s said it met with Hillshire in February and that it “has long been our desire to acquire the company.”