Fresh Del Monte Produce in $403 Million Acquisition

Cleary Gottlieb represented Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc., one of the world’s largest producers and marketers of fresh and fresh-cut produce, in its cash acquisition of a major Costa Rican pineapple and banana grower for an acquisition cost of $403 million. The targets were Desarollo Agroindustrial de Frutales, S.A., a producer of high quality bananas in Costa Rica; Frutas de Exportacion, S.A., a major grower of gold pineapples in Costa Rica; and International Fruit Traders, Inc., an affiliated sales and marketing company, collectively known as “Caribana.” The deal closed on June 6.

The acquisition will increase Fresh Del Monte’s current land holdings by approximately 13,000 hectares of quality farmland. In addition to farmland, Fresh Del Monte acquired related infrastructure for the production of bananas and pineapples.