Merger momentum kept up on deal between Fyffes and Chiquita

With a rival offer now a potential banana skin for the merger of Irish fruit producer Fyffes and US rival Chiquita, the two companies have been busy this week trying to maintain momentum for their original deal.

On Tuesday, the pair revealed they were in discussions with the European Commission about possible concessions to obtain clearance for their proposed inversion deal.

Yesterday, Fyffes published a 23-slide investor presentation to highlight the merits of its proposed $526 million all-stock deal with Chiquita. According to Fyffes, the “choice” for Chiquita shareholders is to either sell now for $13 a share or vote for a merger with an “illustrative value in excess of $21 per share in 2016”.

The latter is based on the assumption that certain financial targets are met.

Shareholders were also reminded that a combined Fyffes-Chiquita group would be number one in bananas and number three in pineapple globally, and the US market leader in packaged salads.

Fyffes’s share price has risen by 102 per cent over the past five years, comfortably outpacing growth in the Iseq in Dublin and the New York Stock Exchange. By comparison, Chiquita’s share price has risen by an anaemic 6 per cent.

Since 1981, Fyffes has completed more than 50 acquisitions without losing its growth momentum. Investors were reminded of the “significant synergies” that a merger with Chiquita offers – $60 million in annual cost savings by the end of 2016 and efficiencies in areas of procurement, logistics and redundant infrastructure.

It now remains to be seen if Chiquita shareholders are persuaded by Fyffes's pitch. They have had their heads turned by an unsolicited rival offer from two Brazilian companies (the Cutrale Group and the Safra Group) which are willing to pay $13 a share, or $611 million, for the company.

They will no doubt seek to squeeze a bit more out of both parties. We should know the answer in early October.