Chiquita gets $611 million takeover bid
Chiquita Brands International Inc., owner of the namesake banana label, received an unsolicited $611 million takeover proposal that envisages the company scrapping its pending merger with Irish competitor Fyffes Plc.
Juice maker Cutrale Group and Safra Group said Monday in a joint statement that they are offering $13 a share for Charlotte, N.C.-based Chiquita. The proposal is 29 percent more than Chiquita's closing share price Friday and isn't subject to financing conditions, Cutrale and Safra said.
The proposed bid jeopardizes the Fyffes merger that would lower Chiquita's tax bill by moving its headquarters from the U.S. to Ireland. Cutrale, a privately held company controlled by Brazil's Jose Luis Cutrale, is partnering with banks controlled by Joseph Safra, Brazil's second-richest man, to challenge the Fyffes tie-up.
"To have a new bid at such a high premium come out of left field is quite surprising," David Holohan, an analyst at Merrion Capital in Dublin, said Monday. "The market clearly is attributing value to the new bid as opposed to the old tie-up between Fyffes and Chiquita."
Chiquita shares jumped $3.04, or 30 percent, to close Monday at $13.10.
-- Bloomberg News
Priceline bookings up 34%, top forecast
Priceline Group Inc., the largest U.S. online travel-reservation service, reported better-than-forecast second-quarter bookings as more consumers used its websites to plan summer trips.
Bookings in the recent period rose 34 percent to $13.5 billion, the Norwalk, Conn.-based company said Monday in a statement. That topped Priceline's May projection for a 32 percent gain. Third-quarter bookings may jump as much as 29 percent, the company said.
Priceline is expanding beyond travel reservations, seeking to maintain growth at a company that's increased revenue by at least 20 percent for seven straight years. The company last month completed its acquisition of restaurant-booking website OpenTable Inc. for $2.6 billion, and Chief Executive Officer Darren Huston on Monday said Priceline is investing in marketing as well as pushing into regions such as China.
"Chinese bookers, they're one of the fastest-growing bookers on all of our properties," Huston said on a conference call Monday. "Tapping into China is going to be a huge benefit."
Priceline shares rose $27.72, or 2.2 percent, to close Monday at $1,309.28.
-- Bloomberg News
Report: Post-recession jobs pay 23% less
Jobs gained after the U.S. recession pay 23 percent less than those lost as a result of the 18-month slump that ended in June 2009, a report by the U.S. Conference of Mayors finds.
The average wage of the positions recovered through the second quarter of 2014 was $47,171 per year compared with $61,637 for those lost in 2008 through 2009, according to the report. The loss is almost twice as large as the one after the 2001 recession, according to the study prepared by IHS Global Insight, and represents $93 billion in foregone wages.
"While the economy is picking up steam, income inequality and wage gaps are an alarming trend that must be addressed," Kevin Johnson, mayor of Sacramento, Calif., and president of the group, said in the report released Monday.
Earnings disparities are also worsening, the report showed. Average income is projected to rise faster than median income, suggesting that top earners are gaining and pulling up the mean. In 2014, median income is projected to gain 2.5 percent before adjusting for inflation, followed by 3.8 percent gains per year through 2017. Average income is expected to climb 2.7 percent this year and by 4.1 percent annually through 2017.
-- Bloomberg News
Black & Mild protests proposed FDA rules
RICHMOND, Va. -- Plans to regulate cigars and other tobacco products the same as cigarettes should not force cigar brand Black & Mild to change its name, the brand's owner said in a filing made public Monday.
Under the Food and Drug Administration proposal, cigar makers would have to remove descriptions such as "light," "mild," "medium" or "low" from their products, raising a unique question about the fate of Black & Mild.
The descriptions were banned for cigarettes under a 2009 law because many smokers wrongly thought they meant the products were less harmful than "full-flavor" cigarettes. Cigarette makers have since replaced those words with colors such as gold, silver, blue and orange on such brands, which usually feature different filters and milder-flavored blends.
In the filing, Richmond-based Altria Group Inc., which owns Black & Mild maker John Middleton Co., described concerns that the proposal may force them to abandon or change the brand name.
The company argues the brand name isn't intended to tell smokers that they're any less harmful, citing a company-sponsored survey of more than 300 cigar smokers, none of which mentioned the words "health," "risk" or "safety" in their responses to what the brand name conveyed. It asked the FDA to clarify whether a ban on the terms would extend to cigars and its trademark and said any ban on the brand name would be unconstitutional.
-- The Associated Press
Social media back Facebook on privacy
NEW YORK -- Facebook's fight against New York City prosecutors over 381 search warrants for users' postings and other data is drawing support from other social media companies.
Lawyers for Foursquare, Kickstarter, Meetup and Tumblr said Monday that they're seeking to join the clash on Facebook's side. Attorney Richard Holwell said that given New York's growing tech industry, it's increasingly crucial to protect user privacy.
The New York Civil Liberties Union and the American Civil Liberties Union also are backing Facebook.
The warrants were issued during a disabilities-benefit fraud investigation. Facebook ultimately turned over the information but is appealing the court order that required it to do so.
A judge has said the search warrants were justified.
A Manhattan district attorney's office spokesman said prosecutors have a responsibility to collect evidence, wherever it's stored.
-- The Associated Press
Business on 08/12/2014