CEO to Take Dole Food Private in $1.21B Deal

Dole Food said Monday its CEO will take it private, in a deal that values the company at approximately $1.21 billion.

Dole shareholders will receive $13.50 per share, a 5 percent premium to its $12.81 Friday closing price. This is a sweetened bid for the fresh fruits and vegetable business, up from the $12 per share Chairman and CEO David Murdock offered in June.

Dole currently has about 89.9 million outstanding shares, according to FactSet.

The company put the transaction’s total value at about $1.6 billion, which includes debt.

Dole Food Company Inc.’s stock jumped 64 cents, or 5 percent, to $13.45 in morning trading. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $9.25 to $15.19.

Dole has gone through a number of major changes recently.

(PHOTOS:   From Farm to Fork)

It sold its packaged foods and Asia fresh business for $1.69 billion in a deal that closed in April. That allowed Dole to become solely an international commodity produce company, with a narrower focus that also makes its earnings more volatile.

In May, Dole said it would indefinitely suspend its $200 million share repurchase program and use its cash instead to update its shipping fleet to enhance growth prospects. The company said that another factor in the suspension of the repurchase plan was the drag on earnings, due to recent losses in its strawberry business.

The acquisition will be financed with cash and equity from Murdock and financing committed by Deutsche Bank, Bank of America and The Bank of Nova Scotia.

Dole’s board unanimously approved the offer, which still needs the approval of at least a majority of outstanding shares held by stockholders other than Murdock and his affiliates. Murdock abstained from the board vote.

Dole, which is based in Westlake Village, Calif., will have a 30-day go-shop period in which it can actively seek out alternative bids from other parties.

The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

Read more: http://business.time.com/2013/08/12/ceo-to-take-dole-food-private-in-1-21b-deal/#ixzz2brSczgz4

Dole Food saldrá de bolsa tras oferta de su director ejecutivo

EL NONAGENARIO DAVID MURDOCK ELEVÓ SU OFERTA DE US$ 12 A US$ 13,50 POR ACCIÓN

La compañía productora de frutas y verduras Dole Food anunció ayer que accedía a una salida de bolsa por parte del presidente y director ejecutivo, el nonagenario David Murdock, después de que éste elevara su oferta a US$ 1.200 millones.

Murdock, que es el principal accionista de Dole con una participación de alrededor de 40%, hizo una oferta en junio para comprar el resto de la compañía por US$ 12 por acción. La última oferta subió a US$ $13,50 
“Vemos esta alza de la oferta como una transacción atractiva que es altamente probable que se realice”, comentó en una nota el analista de Janney Capital Markets, Jonathan Feeney.




No es primera vez


Los intentos de Murdock por comprar la compañía datan de hace diez años después de que hizo que la firma vendedora de plátanos, piñas, berries y ensaladas envasadas saliera de bolsa por US$ 2.500 millones. La compañía comenzó a operar nuevamente en el mercado bursátil en 2009.

Dole ha tenido problemas con la demanda volátil y bajos precios por los plátanos, y vendió sus negocios de alimentos envasados y de frutas y vegetales en Asia a Itochu por US$ 1.700 millones en abril, con lo que el tamaño de la compañía se redujo un 33%.

El acuerdo propuesto para Dole aún necesita la aprobación de los accionistas mayoritarios, pero Feeney indicó que Murdock tenía una fuerte posición de ventaja ya que ofrece una prima alta que otros posibles compradores probablemente no pueden cumplir.

Dole señaló que Murdock financiaría el acuerdo con su propio efectivo y acciones, y a través de financiamiento facilitado por Deutsche Bank, Bank of America y The Bank of Nova Scotia.

El acuerdo, que se espera se cierre en el cuarto trimestre de este año, también permite a Dole un período de compras de 30 días, durante el que puede solicitar ofertas.




Otros negocios


El acuerdo llega en un día de una fuerte actividad de fusiones y adquisiciones en la industria de bebestibles y alimentos.

La firma de alimentos envasados Pinnacle Foods compró el negocio de aderezos de ensaladas Wish-Bone, de Unilever por US$ 580 millones. Por otro lado, Campbell Soup está en las negociaciones finales para vender algunas de sus marcas en Europa -específicamente en Suecia, Alemania, Bélgica y Francia- a la firma de capital privado CVC Capital Partners ya que busca enfocarse en su negocio principal de sopas y comidas en Norteamérica.

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Billionaire Murdock Aims to Take Dole Private, Again

David Murdock is angling to take food company Dole Food Company DOLE +21.27%private, less than four years after taking the business private.

In a buyout offer announced Tuesday morning,the 90-year-old Murdock, who serves as chairman and chief executive, and also controls almost 40% of the company’s stock, is offering $12.00 per share in cash, backed by his own pocketbook and a “highly confident” letter from Deutsche Bank regarding the rest of the financing.

All told, including the assumption of debt, the bid puts an enterprise value of $1.5 billion on Dole, 10.2 times the full-year EBITDA forecast in the company’s latest guidance.

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The offer is an 18% premium to Monday’s closing price, but below the $12.50 per share the company fetched at its IPO in October 2009. At the time, in the midst of a slumping global economy, observers warned that the tight margins of the food business and Dole’s heavy debt load would have the company walking a tightrope. Over he last four years earnings have swung violently with multiple restatements.

While the bid is below the company’s IPO price, Murdock is also bidding on a considerably smaller company. Dole recently closed a deal to sell its global packaged foods and Asian produce units to Japan’s Itochu for $1.7 billion. That deal put Murdock back in the CEO seat, as previous chief  David DeLorenzeo stayed on to run those businesses.

Tuesday’s offer is not Murdock’s first foray into taking Dole private. He led a buyout of the company in 2003.

In a statement, Dole’s board said it will form a special committee of independent directors to consider Murdock’s unsolicited offer, which aims for a binding agreement by July 31. The 90-year-old billionaire said he will not proceed unless such a committee approves his bid and a majority of the outstanding shares not owned by him vote in favor of the transaction.

Shares of Dole were up 22.5% to $12.47 Tuesday, perhaps on the expectation that Murdock will have to sweeten his offer or face rival bids for the business. Shares are down 11.1% this year, sharply underperforming the advance of the broader market and rival Chiquita Brands International, which is up 29.8%.

Management-led buyouts are always tricky business, given that executives like Murdock have to convince shareholders it is better to take the cash even though they clearly see enough future growth to make buying the business a wise choice. The investor resistance to Michael Dell‘s attempted buyout ofDell DELL -0.07%, led by Carl Icahn, is one example where the owners of the company are fighting back

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