GREENWICH, CONN. – Atlas Holdings has acquired Foster Farms, a poultry processor based in Livingston, Calif., that generates approximately $3 billion in annual sales. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Foster Farms has 13 processing facilities in California, Washington, Louisiana, Oregon and Alabama and employs approximately 10,000. The company is a processor of commodity and value-added chicken and turkey.

Donnie Smith, the former chief executive officer of Tyson Foods Inc., Springdale, Ark., has been named chairman of the board and CEO of Foster Farms.

“I love the poultry industry and am proud that Atlas has asked me to become the CEO of Foster Farms,” Smith said. “I’ve long been an admirer of the Foster Family and the business they’ve built over the past eight decades. In this new era, we will maintain and further that legacy, rooted in animal welfare, superior product quality, customer service and community engagement.”

Smith served as CEO of Tyson Foods from 2009 to 2016. He worked at Tyson for 36 years. 

Atlas has a diversified range of companies in its portfolio in such industries as automotive, business and industrial services, building materials, pulp and paper, power generation, metals, packaging and food. The only other food business within its portfolio is Flagstone Foods, Minneapolis, Minn. Atlas acquired Flagstone from TreeHouse Foods Inc. in 2019.

"We are thrilled to welcome Foster Farms to the Atlas Family of great global businesses," said Sam Astor, Ed Fletcher and Mike Sher, partners at Atlas. "We have a long history of partnering with proud family-owned companies to honor their past while driving additional operational, environmental and financial success for the next generation. Working closely with Donnie Smith, the leadership team, and our dedicated team members, that is precisely what we intend to do at Foster Farms."