The US investment bank that advised China's largest pork producer on its record $4.7bn bid for Smithfield Foods, will finance the bulk of the deal, while another Asian food company that passed on the deal said the potential acquisition "came with a very limited time frame".

Wall Street investment bank Morgan Stanley will provide around $3bn in financing for Shuanghui International's bid for Smithfield, which would be the biggest acquisition by a Chinese company in the US, a person familiar with the matter said.