The Brazilian companies hoping for a takeover of Chiquita Brands International (NYSE: CQB) have increased their offer again, in a final attempt to win shareholders over before tomorrow's vote on the Fyffes (ESM: FFY) deal. 

The Cutrale Group and the Safra Group today improved their per share offer by 4% to US$14.50, up from the increased US$14 share offer it made last week.

Chiquita said it would consult with its financial advisors and carefully review the new offer in light of the shareholders' best interests.

The U.S. banana giant rejected Cutrale-Safra's first bid in August of US$13 per share as well as last week's revised offer, which it labelled as 'inadequate'.

Today's new offer comes as Chiquita is seeking a merger with Ireland-based Fyffes, which would create the largest banana seller in the world.

After Chiquita earlier delayed its shareholder vote from Oct. 3 to Oct 24 to allow Cutrale-Safra to conduct due diligence, Fyffes boosted its side of the deal, giving Chiquita a larger stake in the joint company.

In the last few days, two influential proxy advisory firms have both come in with opposing viewpoints over the different shareholder options, with Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) changing its tune on Monday to support the Fyffes deal and Glass Lewis claiming the Brazilian takeover made more sense.

NGO Banana Link and the Latin American Banana Worker Syndicate Coordinator (COLSIBA) have expressed concerns about what a Chiquita takeover would mean for social corporate responsibility, given Cutrale's unsavory labor rights track record on Sao Paulo citrus farms.

COLSIBA coordinator Gilbert Bermúdez described Cutrale as a "very aggressive" group that did not show respect for labor rights, had been convicted by Brazilian courts for illegal outsourcing, had been fined for discriminating against pregnant women, and had been charged with having poor conditions in worker housing; all cases that have occurred within the last two years.

Banana Link international coordinator Alistair Smith told www.freshfruitportal.com that a takeover of Chiquita by Cutrale and Safra threatened to jeopardize 15 years of the multinational’s efforts to ‘put its house in order’ in terms of social dialogue and relations with its workforce.

www.freshfruitportal.com