NY fund looks to outdo Shuanghui offer on Smithfield

New York-based hedge fund Starboard Value said in a Tuesday letter to the shareholders of Virginia-based Smithfield Foods (SFD.NYSE) that it had received “nonbinding written indications of interest” from other parties willing to pay more than the $34 per share cash acquisition deal proposed by China’s Shuanghui International, Reuters reported. While the counter-proposal is not complete, the activist hedge fund, which holds a 5.7% stake in Smithfield, said it planned to vote against the Smithfield-Shuanghui merger in a shareholder meeting later this month in order to buy more time to get such a bid finalized.