ConAgra Foods, the packaged foods giant, said Thursday that it would sell its commodities trading unit to a fund run by Ospraie Management, a commodity-focused hedge fund, for about $2.1 billion in cash and debt.

Under the terms of the deal, an Ospraie unit will pay $1.6 billion in cash and $525 million in pay-in-kind notes, a type of bond in which interest can be paid by issuing more debt. Additionally, ConAgra will receive a portion of the unit’s earnings for the remainder of 2008 and a warrant to buy 8 percent of the Ospraie fund’s equity.

The deal is expected to close within 60 days.