Brazilian juice maker Grupo Cutrale and investment firm Safra Group raised their offer on Thursday for Chiquita Brands International Inc, a day before the U.S. banana producer's shareholders vote on a merger with Irish rival Fyffes Plc.Cutrale-Safra raised the all-cash offer to $14.50 per share from $14 on Oct. 15, valuing Chiquita at about $682 million, or 12.5 times annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization. The offer represents a premium of 14 percent to Chiquita's closing price on Wednesday.Chiquita shares posted their largest intraday jump since Aug. 11, rising as much as 8.87 percent in New York to trade at $13.87. Fyffes shares rose 0.5 percent to 1.02 euros in Dublin.Fyffes and Chiquita recently said the implied present value of their deal ranges from $15.46 to $20.01 a share.
Chiquita Brands International, Inc. (CBII), along with its subsidiaries, is an international marketer and distributor of bananas and other fresh produce, sold under the Chiquita and other brand names in 70 countries, and packaged salads sold under the Fresh Express and other brand names primarily in the United States. Shares of CQB traded higher by 8.01% or $1.02/share to $13.76. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $9.24 and as high as $14.43. On average, 687218 shares of CQB exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 2347715.
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