Cutrale and Safra sweeten Chiquita takeover offer
Cutrale-Safra sweetened its offer to $14.50 a share, the joint bidders said in an e-mailed statement, up from an earlier proposal of $14. The offer expires on Sunday. Chiquita said in a statement it will consider it.
Shareholders of Charlotte, North Carolina-based Chiquita are scheduled to vote today on the acquisition of Irish competitor Fyffes.
The Chiquita-Fyffes combination would create the world’s largest banana company. It also would allow Chiquita to relocate its headquarters to Ireland, which has a lower corporate tax rate.
Cutrale, a closely held fruit juice company controlled by Brazil’s Jose Luis Cutrale, is trying to derail Chiquita’s planned purchase of Fyffes.
Cutrale controls more than one-third of the $5 billion orange-juice market and has global operations in apples, peaches, lemons and soybeans.
Chiquita’s all-stock offer is currently valued at €1.20 a share, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Chiquita on October 16 rejected Cutrale-Safra’s $14 offer as “inadequate.” The banana producer estimates its shares will be worth $15.46 to $20.01 following its acquisition of Fyffes.
Proxy adviser Institutional Investor Services on October 20 recommended Chiquita investors approve the Fyffes deal, reversing its September recommendation to pursue the buyout from Cutrale-Safra. Glass Lewis & Co., another proxy advisory firm, recommended rejecting the Fyffes takeover on October 21.
The offer from Cutrale-Safra is worth $1.27bn, including the assumption of Chiquita’s debt.
