Chiquita Brands International, a distributor and marketer of fresh fruit and vegetables, has announced that its has agreed to sell its vegetable canning subsidiary to Seneca Foods for around US$125m in cash and stock, plus the assumption of around $81m debt.
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Cyrus Freidheim, chairman and CEO of Chiquita Brands, said the sale of Chiquita Processed Foods will allow the company to reduce debt and focus on its fresh produce business.
Chiquita Processed Foods operates 12 processing plants in the upper Midwest and West, and had sales of $404m last year, reported the Associated Press.
Seneca announced separately that it has signed a memorandum of understanding for Wisconsin-based Lakeside Foods to buy four Chiquita Processed Foods facilities in the Midwest that were expected to close.
