Fyffes agrees revised merger terms

Irish banana producer Fyffes yesterday announced it had agreed to a new merger proposal with Chiquita which would see it receive a smaller share of the newly-combined company.

The rival fruit firms agreed to revise the terms of the merger, giving the US company a larger slice of the deal, in a bid to stave off interest in a rival bid from Grupo Cutrale and Safra Group — a Brazilian competitor.

Under the revised deal, Chiquita investors would own 59.6% of the combined business, compared with 50.7% when terms were first detailed in March, the companies said yesterday; leaving the Irish firm with a slightly greater than 40% share.