TOKYO - Dole Food has said it was in advanced talks to sell its packaged foods and Asian fresh fruit businesses to the Japanese trading house Itochu.
Dole, the world's largest fruit and vegetable company, said in a news release on Wednesday that it was negotiating with Itochu over a sale that would be part of a previously announced review of its operations, now based in Westlake Village, Calif.
No definitive agreements have been signed, and Dole was also talking to “several other parties†over a potential sale of those and other businesses, the company said.
Masaaki Yamashita, a spokesman for Itochu, confirmed that the negotiations were at an advanced stage. In a filing with the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Thursday morning, Itochu said it intended to establish a new company to oversee the businesses it acquires from Dole, contingent on a successful deal.
Shares in Dole, already up almost 50 percent this year because of its restructuring plans, jumpe d nearly 10 percent on the news Wednesday, to $14.07. In Tokyo, Itochu shares edged up 0.9 percent to 808 yen, or about $10.38, in morning trading on Thursday.
Dole, which produces, markets and distributes fruits and vegetables, has struggled with volatile demand and lower earnings worldwide from its mainstay fruit, bananas. Depressed prices in North America and Asia were the main drivers of the lower banana performance, the company said in its latest earnings report, for the quarter that ended July 18.
It is undergoing a companywide overhaul intended to reduce costs and better realign fruit supply with expected demand. As part of those measures, Dole restructured farming operations in Latin America and Asia, driving down labor and transportation costs and increasing farm productivity.
To further streamline its operations, Dole said this year it was looking to sell its packaged food business, which includes canned fruit and fruit drinks, as well as its fres h fruit operations in Asia - a move welcomed by analysts.
‘‘We believe management can unlock shareholder value through a transaction, and will exhaust all options,'' equity research analysts at Bank of America said in a note to clients in August.
The Tokyo-based Itochu joins other Japanese traders that have been aggressive in overseas acquisitions, thanks to a strong yen and record profits from energy and mining. In May, Marubeni announced a $3.6 billion deal to buy the U.S. grain merchant, Gavilon. Itochu had already helped Dole market its bananas in Japan.
Dole went public in 2009 in a $446 million I.P.O. Dole's chairman, David H. Murdock, continues to hold a majority of the company's outstanding shares, and has increased his take over the last few months.
