As of Thursday yesterday, Tyson Foods Inc (NYSE:TSN) announced that it has completed its acquisition of Hillshire Brands Co. This deal marks the biggest deal in the meat industry in the United States.

Tyson’s offer that valued Hillshire at $63 per share, expired at midnight on Wednesday, August 27^th 2014. Tyson had previous extended its offer three times. Tyson’s offer beat out a rival offer from competitor company Pilgrim’s Pride.

Yesterday was the final day that investors saw the Hillshire stock ticket on the trading board. Hillshire’s common stock shares will be removed from the list on the New York Stock Exchange as well as the Chicago Stock Exchange as of today August 29^th, 2014. The shares closed at the end of the trading period on Wednesday just $0.04 under Tyson’s offer valuation of $63 a share.

The deal was worth in total roughly $8.5 billion. According to Tyson, which is based in Springdale, Arkansas, stated yesterday on Thursday that it will keep open the headquarters of Hillshire, which is located in Chicago, and the Downers Grove Innovation Center.

According to Donnie Smith, the chief executive officer of Tyson, described the takeover of Hillshire Brands as a move to move the Tyson brand and products towards higher margins on their prepared and branded foods. The rate at which it can achieve those higher margins will be much more quickly than it could have done on its own. Tyson is currently the largest meat processor in the United States base on sales.

The merger gives Tyson a lineup of a complementary and proven brands as a new platform for growth, and accomplishes what would have taken years for the company to build on its own, in a much shorter amount of time.

In order to satisfy anti trust law concerns by the United States Department of Justice, Tyson agreed on Wednesday that it will sell off a small hog processing division of its operations.

Hillshire was brought into existence after Sara Lee spun off from its European tea and coffee operation in 2012. The company has long been viewed as a likely candidate for an acquisition. Known for products including Ball Park hot dogs and Jimmy Deans sausages, the company has been building up itself with its own acquisitions. If Hillshire went through with the purchase of Pinnacle, it would have marked the largest takeover in the meat industry. Instead, the company garnered the interest of other rivals for a takeover.

The company began moving forward with the merging process last month in July after paying a break up fee of $163 million to Pinnacle Foods, which was the company that Hillshire announced an agreement to purchase earlier this year in May.

Tyson expects that the total synergy savings that will result from the merger will come out to be $225 million for the 2015 fiscal year. By 2017, the company expects savings to be more than $500 million.

Tyson has stated that the combination of the two companies will be led by a mix of current senior executives from both companies. Dennis Leatherby, who is the current chief financial officer of Tyson, will continue he position at the merged company.

Andy Callahan, the president of Hillshire’s retail department, will continue as the head of retail consumer brands at Tyson. Mr. Callahan’s responsibilities include managing Hillshire brands such as Ball Park, Hillshire brands, and Sara Lee, as well as overseeing Hillshire’s Gourmet Food Group.

Sally Grimes, who held the position of chief innovative officer at Hillshire and the president of the company’s Gourmet Food Group. At the new combined company, Grimes will head the innovation, research, and development of Tyson’s operations, as well as its sales and brand strategy teams.

Mary Oleksiuk, the ex chief human resources officer for Hillshire, will supersede Tyson’s human resources leader, Ken Kimbro. Mr. Kimbro stated that he will retire after the merger of the company.

Donnie King, who held the position of president of consumer and customer solutions and prepared foods for Tyson, will be the new head of Tyson’s fresh meats, poultry, and non branded prepared food operations.

However, the executive team of the merged company will not include Sean Connolly, Hillshire’s former president and chief executive. Mr. Connolly plans to leave the company after the transition period. During the transition process, Mr. Connolly will act as an advisor for the company.

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