WH Group, the Hong Kong-based parent of Smithfield Foods, plans to take the world’s largest pork producer public for the first time in a decade of Chinese ownership.

WH Group announced the proposed “spin-off” in a July 12 proposal to the Hong Kong stock exchange, which was first reported on July 14 by the Wall Street Journal. Smithfield Foods, which is headquartered in its namesake Virginia town, provided a copy of the proposal to The Smithfield Times.

According to the proposal, the spin-off would include Smithfield Foods’ businesses in the United States and Mexico. The public listing, dubbed “Smithfield U.S. and Mexico,” would be traded on either the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq in the U.S.

The proposal states the spin-off is expected to “remain as a subsidiary” of WH Group and “its financial results will continue to be consolidated into the Company’s financial results.”

The proposed spin-off is subject to approval by the Hong Kong stock exchange, a final decision by WH Group’s board of directors, and approval by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the proposal states, noting there is “no assurance” that the Proposed Spin-off will take place” or “when it may take place.”

The Journal previously reported on Oct. 19, citing unnamed sources, that Smithfield Foods was working with banks to potentially list its stock shares in 2024. Company officials, at the time, said the Journal was “speculating” and would not confirm whether a U.S. stock listing was imminent.

Jim Monroe, vice president of corporate affairs for Smithfield Foods, deferred to the WH Group proposal, which he provided to the Times in response to a request for comments on the Journal’s reporting. Monroe had told the Times last fall that a U.S. public listing is something the company regularly evaluates.

“Smithfield Foods is Smithfield, heart and soul,” said Smithfield Mayor Steve Bowman. “I trust that this decision will ensure that the Town of Smithfield will remain the flagship location of this great company. I believe the entire Council is supportive of the fact that we are truly blessed to have Smithfield to be the corporate fabric of our Town. As mayor, I remain so very happy for the legacy that has been set for us to be the beneficiaries of the successes of this great company, and the donations that have been provided to make us greater and better. Buy Smithfield when the market opens. I will.”

WH Group purchased Smithfield Foods in 2013, the last time the company was publicly traded, for $4.7 billion. Monroe, last fall, said the company’s annual revenue has grown over the decade from $13 billion at the time of the sale to $19 billion in 2022. The company employs nearly 40,000 people across the U.S. and 3,000 locally between its headquarters on Commerce Street and the meatpacking plant in town.

WH Group is already a publicly traded company with investors from around the world, including the United States, Monroe told the Times in 2023 following the passage of a state law that year aimed at barring “foreign adversaries” from owning Virginia farmland, which Monroe asserted would have no impact on the company as it is “not owned or controlled by a foreign government.”

A Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services report from July, however, identified Smithfield Foods subsidiary Murphy Brown LLC as accounting for 96% of the state’s 13,890 acres of Chinese-held land. The company disputed the state’s numbers, contending it owns less than 4,000 acres statewide.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 9:51 a.m. on July 15 with additional details.