NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Smithfield Foods Inc. confirmed Friday it has offered to buy the pork and beef businesses of Farmland Industries Inc.

Smithfield's offer letter to Farmland, which is teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, is the company's second attempt to purchase its competitor's business.

The Smithfield, Va.-based No. 1 processor of pork products has offered to pay Farmland's $10 million debt payment due Friday as an incentive for the company to sell, and could pay between $1 billion and $1.2 billion for the Refrigerated Foods Group, according a report in the Wall Street Journal.

The offer letter sent to Farmland CEO Robert Terry didn't list a purchase price, but the company has been known to offer five or six times earnings for this type of deal, Smithfield spokesman Adam Weiner said.

Smithfield also requested a meeting Friday with Farmland executives and its bankers, whose syndicate is led by Deutsche Bank AG.

"Our proposal provides Farmland with an alternative that we believe will enable it to avert a bankruptcy, preserve its members' equity and any attendant uncertainty regarding their businesses, protect the interests of Farmland's creditors including holders of subordinated debt, and solve Farmland's liquidity crisis," said Richard Poulson, Smithfield Foods' executive vice president, in the letter to Farmland.

Thursday evening, a representative of Kansas City-based Farmland reiterated the company's prior stance that the meat and poultry operations, its most-profitable businesses, will not be sold.

"Those businesses aren't for sale and I wouldn't anticipate any meetings [with Smithfield]," Farmland spokeswoman Sherlyn Manson told Reuters.

Smithfield sent a similar letter to Farmland May 16 expressing interest in a purchase, but the offer was rejected. Smithfield also bid to buy IBP Inc. last year, but lost out to Tyson Foods (TSN: Research, Estimates).

Farmland claimed 7.2 percent of the beef market and 8 percent of the pork market last year.

Shares of Smithfield (SFD: down $0.34 to $18.14, Research, Estimates) were down slightly early Friday.  

--from staff and wire reports