Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest pork processor, has applied to the Polish competition authority UOKiK to obtain permission to acquire the Polish processor which specialises in pork.

The value of the deal has not been disclosed.

In a statement, UOKiK said: “The acquisition will strengthen the integrated supply chain within Smithfield group in Poland.”

The statement went on to say that “it will also allow (Smithfield Foods) to raise its production capacities in the field of meat processing to satisfy the increasing demand of polish and foreign customers.”

Pini Poland is an Italian-owned meat processor based in the central region of Poland. Its processing facility has a capacity of around 4m head per year, while it also has a beef processing plant in the south east of the country.

In addition to its Polish facility, the processor also operates its processing business in Italy, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia.

For Smithfield Foods, the acquisition would allow it to gain further access into the Polish market. The group already owns Polish meat processor Animex Food, which generates sales of €928m annually.