Cutrale, Safra Announce Satisfaction Of Regulatory Condition For Chiquita Deal

(RTTNews) - Brazil's Cutrale and Safra Groups said Friday that Ukraine antitrust authorities have approved the Groups' proposed acquisition for joint control of U.S. banana producer Chiquita Brands International, Inc. (CQB).

Cutrale-Safra has also made a notification filing with the antitrust authorities in Honduras as required under applicable law and has entered into arrangements to address the exercise of control over Chiquita's Ecuadorian operations pending receipt of approval by the applicable authorities in Ecuador.

On that basis, Cutrale-Safra has determined that the condition relating to receipt of certain antitrust and regulatory approvals has been satisfied.

The consummation of the tender offer remains subject to other conditions, all of which the parties expect to be satisfied.

The tender offer is scheduled to expire on Monday, January 5, unless further extended or terminated.

Cutrale-Safra expects to proceed expeditiously to close the acquisition promptly thereafter.

In late October, Cutrale and Safra entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire Chiquita Brands for $14.50 per share in cash or about $1.3 billion, including assumption of Chiquita's net debt.

In March last year, Chiquita agreed to combine with Fyffes in a stock-for-stock deal that envisaged the combined company to relocate to Ireland in order to benefit from lower corporate taxes. But the merger deal was delayed after Cutrale-Safra offered to buy Chiquita for $13 per share in cash in August, which Chiquita rejected.