Money | mergers and acquisitions Tyson Wins Hillshire Farms Sweepstakes—for $7.7B Almost $1B more than rival Pilgrim's Pride offered By Kevin Spak Posted Jun 9, 2014 11:38 AM CDT Copied This file photo combo shows a package of frozen Tyson Chicken Nuggets, left, and a package of Hillshire Farm sausage, in Palo Alto, Calif. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File) Tyson Foods has won the bidding war to buy Hillshire Brands, topping an offer from rival Pilgrim's Pride by almost a billion dollars, the Wall Street Journal reports. Tyson will pay $63 a share in cash for Hillshire, which makes Jimmy Dean sausages and Ball Park franks, among other food products. The deal values the company at $7.7 billion. Pilgrim's Pride had offered $55 a share. Tyson's CEO explained the big offer by saying that companies like Hillshire "don't become available too often." Read These Next America's most popular cooking oil is tied to weight gain. Kristi Noem issues a warning: 'We don't want them.' A troubled teen in Brazil climbed into a lioness' enclosure. Putin is in a fighting mood ahead of peace talks. Report an error