Safra Group, Cutrale Group raise bid for banana company Chiquita to about $658M

Two Brazilian companies are raising their bid for banana company Chiquita to approximately $658 million.

Investment firm Safra Group and juice company Cutrale Group said Wednesday that they are now offering $14 per Chiquita share, up from their previous bid of $13 per share. That's an approximately 6 percent premium to Chiquita's Tuesday closing price of $13.16.

Safra and Cutrale said that they have submitted their revised offer to Chiquita Brands International Inc.'s board. The companies said that they don't expect there are any regulatory hurdles that would prevent them from closing on a deal promptly.

North Carolina-based Chiquita has a merger agreement in place with Irish fruit importer Fyffes that would give its stockholders nearly a 60 percent stake in the combined company under an all-stock deal. Fyffes shareholders would own about 40 percent.