Thailand's largest agricultural conglomerate, said Monday on April 22 that it will acquire Canadian pork producer HyLife Investments for Canadian $ 498 million ($ 372.7 million) in order to expand its North American business.

The acquisition will make CPF a 50.1 percent owner of HyLife, and the remainder will be owned by its Japanese partner Itochu Corp, the CPF said in a statement.

CPF said the investment would give it access to a pork base and expandability in North America and premium markets such as Japan.

CPF, specializing in livestock, aquaculture, animal feed and restaurants in 17 countries, belongs to the richest man in Thailand, Danin Chearavanont. Other areas of Dhanin's business include shops, insurance companies, and telecommunications.

The purchase of CPF HyLife will improve the pork product range for the Chinese market and expand its presence in the United States. HyLife, which owns processing plants in Canada and Mexico, has its own facilities, including feed production, pig production and distribution of pork products.

CPF previously stated that it expects sales growth of up to 10% in 2019 and plans sales of more than $ 18.2 billion over the next five years.