2 poultry companies agree to La. plant deal
by Robert Travis Scott - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

BATON ROUGE -- The two poultry product companies negotiating the $80 million purchase of a north Louisiana chicken processing plant have agreed to the terms of a deal that could fulfill Gov. Bobby Jindal's goal of keeping the 1,300-employee facility from closing.

Foster Farms of Livingston, Calif., announced Friday that is has entered into a definitive agreement with Pilgrim's Pride Corp. of Pittsburg, Texas, to acquire the Pilgrim's complex in Farmerville and that the sale is imminent.

"Foster Farms is looking forward to expanding our operations into the state of Louisiana," said Chief Executive Officer Ron Foster, whose company currently operates only on the West Coast. "Foster Farms anticipates upgrading and adding to the capabilities of the Farmerville complex."

The administration wants to give Foster Farms $40 million toward the purchase and contribute $10 million toward plant upgrades. Foster Farms would match those amounts.

Thursday's legislative action gave the governor access to the state money, but a legislative panel still needs to sign off on the state's proposed contract with Foster Farms. That contract likely will be made public next week sometime before the panel meets on Friday.