Tyson is reported to have bid $63 a share for Hillshire, trumping rival Pilgrim’s Pride’s bid last week of $55 a share.

The new offer that Wall Street Journal and Nasdaq report has been accepted by Hillshire Brands values the company at $7.8 billion

On 27 May, Pilgrim's, part of the Brazilian meat processing giant JBS, proposed to acquire all of Hillshire's outstanding common stock for $45 per share.

Two days later, Tyson put forward a bid to acquire Hillshire for $50 per share in cash.

Hillshire Brands, which has brands such as Jimmy Dean sausages and Ball Park hot dogs, has already formed an agreement to acquire Pinnacle Foods for $18 per share in cash and 0.5 shares of Hillshire Brands common stock.

Both the Pilgrim's Pride and Tyson Foods proposals are conditional on Hillshire pulling out of the merger agreement with Pinnacle.

On 1 June, Pilgrim's Pride increased its offer to $55 per share.

Two days later, Hillshire went into negotiations with both Tyson and Pilgrim’s pride over the proposed takeover although it said it was powerless to stop the merger with Pinnacle.

In a stock exchange filing last week, Tyson arranged bridging loan facilities of $6.75 billion as part of it plans to bid for Hillshire Brands.

Hillshire Brands formed in 2012 when Sara Lee divided its meat and food businesses from its tea and coffee segment.