Fyffes’ shareholders have voted to approve the €751 million Sumitomo Corporation takeover in a series of meetings held earlier today (Monday January 16).
While a protest was going on outside a hotel in Dublin, investors were inside approving the deal that was initially announced last December and is likely to close some time in February, depending on various regulatory approvals.
Demonstrators from the Dublin Trade Council, GMB union and campaign group Banana Link, called on the fruit multinational to reinstate workers that were allegedly fired and blacklisted for joining unions in Costa Rica and Honduras.
But when protesters approached Fyffes chairman, David McCann, before the meeting, he refused to address the issue.
The finalisation of the Fyffes deal would spell an end to more than three decades as a Dublin-listed company and, according to reports, could lead to payouts and bonuses for Fyffes executives.
Sumitomo is a major global trading company that has been active in the banana industry since the 1960s. It is a market leader in Asia with a fully integrated business model and interests ranging from plantation operations in the Philippines to retail distribution across the continent.
Currently, the organisation imports around 30% of the bananas into the Japanese market.
