Smithfield ham slices are on sale at the Taste of Smithfield restaurant and gourmet market in Smithfield, Virginia in this file photo taken May 30, 2013. Smithfield Foods Inc, the US pork producer that has agreed to a $4.7 billion buyout by China's Shuanghui International Holdings, reported a 36 percent fall in quarterly profit, hurt by lower exports to key international markets such as Japan, China and Russia.[Photo/Agencies]

WASHINGTON - Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd. and Smithfield Foods announced Friday evening that they received clearance on their proposed transaction from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

The transaction remained subject to Smithfield shareholder approval and other customary closing conditions. Smithfield's shareholders are scheduled to vote on the transaction at a special shareholders meeting on September 24, 2013.

"This transaction will create a leading global animal protein enterprise," said Shuanghui International's CEO Zhijun Yang.

Smithfield is a 13 billion dollars global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer, while Shuanghui is China's largest meat processor.

Yang said "Shuanghui International and Smithfield have a long and consistent track record of providing customers around the world with high-quality food, and we look forward to moving ahead together as one company."

Shuanghui and Smithfield expected the transaction to close shortly thereafter.

The merger deal, agreed in May, is worth 34 dollars a share, or 4.7 billion dollars. Adding the debt Shuanghui will take on, the deal's overall value went to 7.1 billion dollars. It is the biggest Chinese takeover of a US company once completed.

After the two companies consummate the transaction, Smithfield will continue to operate under its existing brand names as a wholly owned subsidiary of Shuanghui International.