A deal to create the world’s largest banana company has collapsed after shareholders of US firm Chiquita rejected a merger with Fyffes.

Brazil’s Cutrale Group and Safra Group again increased their unsolicited joint bid to buy banana producer Chiquita Brands International in an offer worth about $686m (€542m).

Fyffes’s proposed merger with US fruit producer, Chiquita Brands is looking more realistic after the latter rejected an improved takeover offer from Brazilian consortium, Cutrale- Safra.

Fyffes has responded to an increased rival bid for US banana producer Chiquita by saying its merger proposals remain the superior offer for shareholders.

Brazilian bidder Cutrale-Safra has submitted an improved bid for US banana producer Chiquita Brands.

The European Commission has cleared the proposed merger between Fyffes and its US banana rival, Chiquita Brands — removing any regulatory barriers to a deal being concluded before the end of the year.

The record €6m price secured for filly-in-training Chiquita at auction contributed to pre-tax profits at Goffs more than doubling last year to €1.8m.

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.

Irish banana company Fyffes has agreed to revised terms of its merger with Chiquita - in a bid to make the deal more attractive to shareholders.

Chiquita and Fyffes have submitted remedies to the European Union to deal with the likely impact that their proposed merger will have on competition.

Fyffes has granted its proposed merger partner Chiquita permission to talk to rival bidder, Cutrale-Safra.

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.

The world’s leading investor advisory firm, Institutional Shareholder Services, has called for a postponement of a shareholder meeting aimed at approving the merger of Dublin-based banana distributor Fyffes and its US rival, Chiquita.

Brazilian juicemaker Cutrale, which is trying to block the proposed merger between Dublin-based banana distributor, Fyffes and US fruit giant Chiquita Brands, has said that Chiquita is misleading its shareholders over the potential growth benefits from such a merger.

Banana distributor Fyffes yesterday filed an investor presentation to the US Securities and Exchange Commission correcting what it refers to as misleading statements made in relation to its proposed merger with Chiquita.

Fyffes has said that an additional $20m (€15m) worth of synergies from its proposed merger with US fruit giant Chiquita have been identified.

Brazilian juice giant Cutrale is expected to return with an improved offer for US fruit producer Chiquita Brands, keeping the latter’s planned merger with Dublin-based banana distributor Fyffes in doubt.

A merger between fruit giants Fyffes and Chiquita could be back on.

The planned merger of Fyffes with its US banana-producing rival, Chiquita Brands is still widely expected to succeed, with one analyst suggesting a deal could be concluded earlier than anticipated by the end of October.

Shares in Irish banana giant Fyffes are down by almost 15% after its planned merger with Chiquita was thrown into doubt.

Shares in Dublin-based fruit giant, Fyffes plummeted over 20% at one point yesterday after its intended merger with Chiquita Brands was thrown into jeopardy, with the latter receiving an unsolicited $611m takeover offer.

Irish-headquartered fruit importer and distributor Fyffes has called an emergency general meeting (EGM) to seek shareholder approval for its proposed merger with Chiquita.

Initial professional fees connected with its proposed merger with US banana producer, Chiquita, affected profits at Fyffes in the early part of this year, but the Dublin-based fruit distributor has maintained its positive earnings forecast for this year.

Chiquita Brands International, owner of the namesake banana label, agreed to buy Ireland’s Fyffes to create the world’s biggest supplier of the fruit for about €407m.

It is hardly a mega-deal on the scale of AOL/Time Warner, but when it comes to fresh fruit, the $1bn merger of Fyffes and Chiquita is big bananas.

Tropical fruit supplier Fyffes is to merge with US-based rival Chiquita in a deal creating the world’s largest banana company, which will be based in Ireland.

The number of people missing after a typhoon devastated the Philippines jumped to nearly 900 after families and businesses reported losing contact with more than 300 fishermen at sea.

African and Caribbean countries are standing in the way of a deal that would end the European Union’s long-running “banana war” with Latin American nations at the World Trade Organisation.

Banana company Chiquita Brands International is to pay a $25m (€18.9m) fine after admitting it paid terrorists for protection in a volatile farming region of Colombia.

US stocks regained ground today as the market’s cautious optimism was restored by government data showing only modest inflation, better-than-expected corporate earnings, announcements of two merger deals and the report of a third.

LATER this week in the Four Courts, two of the biggest names in Irish business will square off against each other.

FYFFES will report a drop in turnover to €1.72 billion for 2002, according to the forecasts of one analyst. This marks a slip from €1.955 billion last year.

FRUIT importers Fyffes has produced first half results in line with market expectations.

Chiquita, the US company at the heart of the transatlantic banana war that led to sanctions against European luxury goods producers, today filed for bankruptcy protection.