Smithfield Foods' Parent Company Pulls IPO.

WH Group is the Chinese company that acquired Smithfield Foods.

The WH Group is pulling its initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and delaying pricing due to lack of demand, according to Reuters.

Reuters, citing anonymous sources, said the IPO, initially thought to be worth $5.3 billion, would instead be less than $2 billion.

The IPO share pricing had been slated for Tuesday, and the company had been due to debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange on April 30.

It is said that the WH Group plans to use much of the money raised through its IPO to pay back debt it incurred last year with its $4.9 billion purchase of Smithfield.

Smithfield Foods is a leading pork producer and processing company.  The company owns Farmland Foods, which has a pork plant in Crete, Cook's Hams, which operates in Lincoln, and a Margherita sausage plant in Omaha.