Four international law firms are advising on China’s Shuanghaui International’s proposal to buy U.S.-based Smithfield Foods Inc for $4.7 billion.

The transaction is expected to rank as the largest Chinese takeover of a U.S. company, with an enterprise value of $7.1 billion, including Shuanghui’s debt assumption of $2.4 billion of Smithfield’s debt.

Shuanghui is already a majority shareholder of Henan Shuanghui Investment & Development Co, China’s largest meat processor. It will join forces with a company that has a worldwide herd of 1.09 million sows, according to industry data compiled by Successful Farming magazine.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and McGuireWoods are advising Smithfield, while Paul Hastings and Troutman Sanders are legal counsel to Shuanghui.

Simpson Thacher’s Asia team is being led by Hong Kong partner Leiming Chen and Beijing partner Shaolin Luo. Its U.S. team consists of partners Robert Spatt, Patrick Naughton, Andrea Wahlquist, Kevin Arquit, Peter Thomas, Gary Mandel, Lori Lesser and Alden Millard.

The Paul Hastings team is being led by partner and Greater China chair Raymond Li, and assisted by Hong Kong partner Vivian Lam. Partners Carl Sanchez, Michael Chernick and Scott Flicker are heading the Paul Hastings team in the U.S. Partners from the firm’s New York, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, London and Paris offices who are also working on the transaction include Hamilton Loeb, Thomas Mounteer, Todd Duffield, Erika Collins, Mario Ippolito, Jeff Pellegrino, Charles Patrizia, Steve Harris, Alexander Lee, Pierre Kirch, Garrett Hayes and Scott Hataway.

Aiming to dispel any concern over major displacements, Shuanghui has promised no closures or relocations of Smithfield’s operations and to keep current management, including CEO Larry Pope, in place.

Privately owned Shuanghui will finance the transaction through a combination of cash, rollover of existing Smithfield debt and debt financing produced by Morgan Stanley and a syndicate of banks. Both boards have approved the deal.

The agreement highlights China’s growing appetite for protein-rich food, particularly pork, the leading animal protein consumed there, Reuters reports. As its middle class expands, the country is relying on foreign producers to keep pace with demand.

The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2013, and is subject to shareholder and other regulatory approvals.

Kanishk Verghese is North Asia journalist at ALB. Follow us onTwitter: @ALB_Magazine.