A leading group of Chilean fruit companies has made an offer to buy 100 per cent of the shares of major exporter cooperative Copefrut, which have an estimated value of €59m (US$78m).
The group, Inversiones Frutícolas, has formally offered €908 (US$1,198) per share, following a previous agreement to acquire 29 per cent of Copefrut from two producers in the country, Moura and Lozano.
Inversiones Frutícolas is comprised of Frutícola José Soler (Solfrut), Inversiones Paco Ancho and Agrícola Ana María; three companies whose owners also currently have shares in Copefrut.
In a statement, the Chilean consortium said its members were shareholders in Copefrut’s controlling group, which, through a shareholders’ agreement, controls more than 53 per cent of the company.
If successful in its bid, Inversiones Frutícolas said it would continue with and strengthen the business and activities currently being developed by Copefrut, focusing its energies and investment on its capacity for production, marketing and distribution in the markets where it operates.
The group also said it would sell several agricultural properties in Chile and other assets in Uruguay, adding that it would look to take Copefrut back into private ownership.
