David McCann of Fyffes
Local fruit company Fyffes, which is owned by the McCann family, is merging with US company Chiquita to create a business that will be the world’s biggest distributor of bananas and have annual sales of $4.6bn (€3.3bn).
The new company – ChiquitaFyffes – will be the biggest banana distributor in the world and control 14% of the world’s $7bn (€5bn) market for the popular fruit. It will be the single biggest distributor in Europe and the second biggest in the US.
ChiquitaFyffes’ shares will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, making it worth about $1.1bn (€792m) but the company will remain headquartered in Ireland.
The Irish connection with Fyffes – who sponsor Dundalk FC – dates back to 1902 when Charles McCann established a greengrocers on Clanbrassil Street to become the first agent for Fyffes in Ireland.
The McCann family have led Fyffes since the late 1950s with the late Neil McCann leading much of the growth in the last century.
Yesterday, Charles McCann’s grandson, David, welcomed the merger. They own about 12.5% of Fyffes.
David has worked with the company since 1986 and will be the new chief executive of ChiquitaFyffes with former Chiquita chief executive Ed Lonergan taking on the role of executive chairman.
The tie-up between Fyffes and Chiquita isn’t expected to be completed until the end of the year, but neither company is expecting any issues to be raised by regulators.
Talk of the Town 