Pilgrim's Pride proposes buyout of Hillshire

Pilgrim's Pride Corp. unveiled an offer to acquire fellow food producer Hillshire Brands Co. for roughly $5.5 billion, complicating a planned deal between Hillshire and Pinnacle Foods Inc.

The buyout offer comes roughly two weeks after Hillshire agreed to buy Pinnacle for $4.3 billion.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Pilgrim's said its offer is superior to the Pinnacle deal. The company added it expects the proposed transaction would close in the third quarter, subject to the termination of the Hillshire-Pinnacle tie-up, which carries a $163 million breakup fee.

Read more from the Wall Street Journal.