The famed banana company Chiquita is now under the hands of the two Brazilian companies Cutrale and Safra after they won the bitter battle against other bidders and sealed the deal with a $1.3 billion acquisition.
It can be recalled that there have been a number of rejections made by Chiquita before the final deal with Cutrale and Safra. There was even a merging offer made by the big company Fyffes but it didn’t the approval of the highly valued banana brand.
Fyffes is one of the famed fruit companies of today with the main goal of bringing the business to Dublin to make sure that its revenues would not be affected by the high tax rates.
Out of the many bidders, Chiquita arranged to sell the 144-year old company to the head of one of the leading orange juice groups in Brazil that is Jose Luis Cutrale and to the billionaire banker Joseph Safra. Each share was sold at $14.50 which valued Chiquita at $1.3 billion with debts already included.
The success of the Brazilian companies in winning the deal with the banana group brings an end to its 3-month long battle against Fyffes of Ireland that intended to close a merger with Chiquita.
Catering to the increasing demand of people who want to eat healthy products will be a big challenge for Cutrale-Safra who won the bid but they are looking out on ways to help them achieve success.
For the side of Chiquita, the acquisition that will complete by 2015 shows a surprise twist for the company which the Latin Americans hated for a long time already as it was long seen as a symbol of US repression and imperialism.