After being rejected several times, Safra and Cutrale won the acquisition battle as Chiquita Brands International Inc finally accepted their offer as its shareholder voted against the merger with Irish company Fyffes.
Brazillian billionaires Safra and Cutrale raised their offer for Chiquita as a last-minute effort to buy out the banana-producing giant and preventing its merger with Fyffes-and they were successful.
The Brazillian companies' offer of $14.50 per share higher than that of Fyffes' $11.80 per share.
Cutrale, who runs fresh fruit juice producer Grupo Cutrale, and Safra who operates investment firm Safra Group both made a collective bid for Chiquita back in August for for $13 per share, and eventually offered $14.50 per share earlier this month, which put a $682 million value to Chiquita.
Chiquita's shares jumped 3.7 percent to $14.27 in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Oct.24 while Fyffes' shares went down 9 percent at 90 euro cents in Dublin.
"While we are convinced [Fyffes] would have been a strong merger partner, we will now go forward as competitors," Chiquita Chief Executive Edward Lonergan said in an interview with Reuters.
Chiquita admitted on Friday, Oct. 24 that it was considering the offer of investment firm Safra and juice maker Cutrale if its shareholders ever decided to cut the deal with Fyffes.
"We appreciate the consideration and perspectives of all Chiquita shareholders who participated in this process," Edward F. Lonergan, Chiquita's chief executive, said in a statement in NY Times.
"Given today's results, we have determined to terminate the agreement with Fyffes and to engage with Cutrale/Safra regarding its revised offer," Lonergan added.
In a response, David McCann, Fyffes's executive chairman said "We are confident Fyffes will remain at the forefront of the global produce industry."
"We will continue to focus on successfully developing our business for the benefit of all stakeholders. We extend our gratitude to Ed Lonergan and the Chiquita team for their professionalism during the process and wish them well in the future," he added.
