Manitoba pork plant HyLife sells half its shares to Thailand-based pork producer

Manitoba-based pork producer HyLife has inked a deal worth close to half a billion dollars to sell half of its shares to a company in Thailand.

The company, Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company Limited (CPF), operates in 17 countries and exports products around the world.

The deal is estimated to be worth$498 million.

Claude Vielfaure, president of HyLife, said the company was looking to expand its business in Canada, and it made sense strategically to partner with them.

"It was just a great opportunity for us to get a strong shareholder and continue the growth that HyLife has succeeded in the last few years," he said.

Given CPF's reach, Vielfaure said he hopes the partnership will help HyLife expand its exports so it can sell its pork around the world.

Vielfaure said he expects the deal will end up creating jobs at the company, which already employs 2,500 people.

As far as day-to-day operations go, he said he didn't think anything would change as a result of the deal.

The agreement with CPF is still subject to Canadian and international regulatory approvals, so it will still take at least another three months to close, Vielfaure said.