Just How Big Will Tyson Become?

The merger of Tyson Foods Inc. and IBP Inc. will make for the 74th-largest company in the United States, according to Fortune 500’s revenue figures for 2000.

IBP was ranked No. 117 last year with $16.95 billion in revenue. Tyson came in No. 257 with $7.16 billion. Combined, the $24.1 billion company would have been just ahead of American Express and one behind First Union Corp. Exxon Mobil is No. 1 at $210.4 billion. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of Bentonville is No. 2 at $193.3 billion.

The new Tyson will be the dominant player in the meat industry, owning about 28 percent of the beef market, 25 percent of the chicken market and 18 percent of the pork market. Tyson rival ConAgra Foods Inc. of Omaha, Neb., was No. 68 on last year’s Fortune 500 list with $25.4 billion in revenue, one step below Walt Disney. But a large portion of ConAgra’s revenue comes from its grain business.

Perry Webb, president of the Springdale Chamber of Commerce, said he doesn’t believe people in Northwest Arkansas have a real grasp on just how big Tyson Foods is about to become.

“I’ve heard all the statistics and analogies,” Webb said. “I just don’t think people realized how big this deal is. It still shocks me a little. But, do we realize how big Wal-Mart is, how big J.B. Hunt is?”

Among the companies Tyson is expected to surpass are Microsoft (79), Coca-Cola (93), PepsiCo (94), FedEx (112), Anheuser-Busch (159) and American Airlines (170).

“Obviously this makes [Springdale] more of a presence in the food industry,” Webb said. “It creates the potential for us take advantage of even more assets. How our region does relates to a better quality of life here and makes things easier and better to do for all of us.”

While Wal-Mart would not confirm the amount of space allotted to a product or company, there has been speculation that of about 128 feet of the meat bins at the Springdale Supercenter, about 100 feet will be filled with Tyson/IBP products. Included in those lines of products are the Thomas E. Wilson brand meats. The case-ready meats are produced at IBP’s Council Bluffs, Iowa, facility.

Sources in the retail vendor community, who asked not to be identified, say that one foot of Wal-Mart counter space is worth about $2 million in annual sales.

Who They Are

IBP profile

World’s largest producer of fresh beef and pork.

Nation’s leading supplier of chrome-tanned hides.

Largest U.S. exporter of red meat and allied products.

Delivers more than 350 allied products.

No. 1 supplier of raw materials for pet food.

Major supplier of the gelatin bone used to make photographic film.

Growing source of precooked pizza toppings and taco filling.

Supplier of cooked ham and deli meats.

North America’s largest producer of 90 percent lean beef trimming.

Provides the tallow and lard, rendered from fat and bone, that is used to make shortenings, soap, cosmetics, paint and glue.

World’s largest single source of cattle hides and one of the largest hide tanners.

Tyson Foods Profile

World’s leading producer and marketer of chicken-based food products.

World’s leading producer of Rock Cornish Game Hens.

Wholly owned subsidiary, The Pork Group, is the sixth-largest farrow-to-finish hog producer in U.S.

Mexican Original is country’s second-largest producer of flour and corn tortillas, taco shells and chips.