More calls to adjourn banana deal

The proposed merger of Fyffes and US rival, Chiquita has been thrown into further doubt, with two more investor advisory firms urging the American firm to adjourn an upcoming shareholder vote and engage in discussions with a rival bidder.

Chiquita and Dublin-based banana distributor, Fyffes are both set to put their planned merger to shareholder votes next week. However, advisory firms, Glass Lewis and Egan-Jones have both recommended Chiquita calls off its meeting, or for its shareholders to vote against the merger.

Glass Lewis said that “few investors share the [Chiquita] board’s optimistic view on the value of the Fyffes combination”, and suggested that Chiquita has clouded the appeal of engaging with Cutrale-Safra, the Brazilian party which has had a $13 per share/$611m approach turned down by Chiquita.