Fyffes fusion preferred
Brazilian fruit juice manufacturer Cutrale Group, alongside investment company Safra Group, had offered 13 dollars per share as part of its “hostile” take-over bid. The bid values Chiquita at 455 million euro, but the North Carolina-based company quickly dismissed it as “inadequate” and “not in the best interest of Chiquita shareholders”.
Particularly the Brazilian demand to call off the merger with its Irish competitor Fyffes was hard to swallow. Chiquita had announced its merger plans in order to become the world’s largest banana company back in March. Its combined market value would be 1 billion dollars. Chiquita would save quite a bit on taxes by moving its main office to the fiscally attractive city of Dublin.
Chiquita’s management informed Cutrale Group in a letter that it will not negotiate “at this time”, but will give the merger full priority. The Brazilians have asked Chiquita’s shareholders to put pressure on its management to start negotiating.
