Banana producer Chiquita Brands International shareholders have voted against a merger deal with Irish rival c.
Post this development, Chiquita will now enter talks with Brazil's Cutrale and Safra following an offer of $14.50 a share. The Fyffes deal was first announced in March.
Brazilian juice maker Grupo Cutrale and investment firm Safra Group earlier raised their offer aagin to acquire banana producer Chiquita Brands International by about $14.5% to $14 per share in cash ahead of the vote.
Chiquita chief executive Edward Lonergan said: "While we are convinced [Fyffes] would have been a strong merger partner, we will now go forward as competitors."
Through the merger with Fyffes, Chiquita hoped to become the world's largest banana producer with over 14% share of the $7bn worldwide banana market.
The Chiquita-Fyffes merged entity was expected to have annual revenues of $4.6bn, with the relocation of headquarters to Dublin, further allowing the entity to save up to $40m in pretax cost savings.
