HK Stock Market Move | Wanzhou International (00288) rose nearly 3%, acquiring the hot dog brand Nathan's Famous under its subsidiary Smithfield Food.

Wanzhou International (00288) rose nearly 3%, as of the time of writing, it rose 1.9%, closing at HKD 9.1, with a turnover of HKD 70.166 million. On the news front, WH GROUP recently announced that its subsidiary Smithfield Foods has signed a final merger agreement with Nathan's Famous, the operator of the hot dog brand Nathan's Famous, Inc, at a cash price of $102 per share to acquire all of Nathan's Famous' issued and outstanding shares, with an enterprise value of approximately $450 million. The transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of this year, with a transaction valuation corresponding to Nathan's Famous' adjusted EBITDA for the past 12 months at approximately 12.4 times, and a valuation multiple of approximately 10 times after synergies are realized. Smithfield expects to achieve annual cost synergies of approximately $9 million within two years after completing the transaction.