The Cutrale and Safra Groups Announce Satisfaction of the Regulatory Condition For its Acquisition of Chiquita Brands International, Inc.

NEW YORK, Jan. 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Cutrale and Safra Groups ("Cutrale-Safra") today announced that the antitrust authorities of the Ukraine have notified the parties of its approval of Cutrale-Safra's proposed acquisition for joint control of Chiquita Brands International, Inc. ("Chiquita") (NYSE: CQB) on December 31, 2014.  Cutrale-Safra has also made a notification filing with the antitrust authorities in Honduras as required under applicable law and has entered into arrangements to address the exercise of control over Chiquita's Ecuadorian operations pending receipt of approval by the applicable authorities in Ecuador.  On that basis, Cutrale-Safra has determined that the condition relating to receipt of certain antitrust and regulatory approvals has been satisfied.  The consummation of the tender offer remains subject to other conditions, all of which the parties expect to be satisfied. 

As previously announced, the tender offer is scheduled to expire at 12:00 midnight, New York City time, at the end of the day on Monday, January 5, 2015, unless further extended or terminated.  Cutrale-Safra expects to proceed expeditiously to close the acquisition promptly thereafter. 

About Chiquita Brands International, Inc.
Chiquita Brands (NYSE:CQB) is a leading international marketer and distributor of nutritious, high-quality fresh and value-added food products - from energy-rich bananas, blends of convenient green salads and other fruits to healthy snacking products. The company markets its healthy, fresh products under the Chiquita® and Fresh Express® premium brands and other related trademarks. With annual revenues of more than $3 billion, Chiquita employs approximately 20,000 people and has operations in nearly 70 countries worldwide. For more information, please visit www.chiquita.com.

About Cutrale Group
The Cutrale Group refers to the global agribusiness operations owned by the Cutrale family. Entities within the Cutrale Group collectively make up one of the world's most highly regarded agribusiness and juice companies in the world and one of the world's leading orange juice processors for frozen concentrated orange juice and not-from-concentrate fresh juices. The entities within the Cutrale Group together account for over one-third of the $5 billion orange juice market. The global business operations of the entities within the Cutrale Group include oranges, apples, peaches, lemons and soybeans. The operations of the Cutrale Group entities have a vast network and knowhow of farms, processing, technology, sourcing, distribution, logistics, and marketing of juices and fruits.

About Safra Group
The Safra Group refers to an international network of companies, businesses and operations controlled by Joseph Safra. The entities comprising the Safra Group collectively have assets under management of over $200 billion and aggregate stockholder equity of approximately $15.3 billion, operate banks and invest in other businesses across North and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Throughout these markets, entities within the Safra Group have deep, long-term relationships with major market participants, enabling the Safra Group to greatly enhance the value of the competitive position of the businesses in which any of the entities within the Safra Group invests.

No Offer or Solicitation
This communication is not intended to and does not constitute an offer to buy or the solicitation of an offer to sell any securities. The solicitation and the offer to buy shares of Chiquita Brands International, Inc. common stock is being made pursuant to the tender offer statement on Schedule TO, including the offer to purchase and other related materials, referenced below.

Important Additional Information Has Been Filed and Will Be Filed With The SEC
In connection with the offer recently commenced, on November 4, 2014 an affiliate of Cutrale-Safra filed a Tender Offer Statement on Schedule TO, containing an offer to purchase, a form of letter of transmittal and other related tender offer documents, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), and Chiquita filed a Solicitation/ Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9 with respect to the tender offer. The Tender Offer Statement filed by an affiliate of Cutrale-Safra and the Solicitation/ Recommendation Statement filed by Chiquita have been mailed to shareholders of Chiquita. INVESTORS AND SHAREHOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE TENDER OFFER STATEMENT (INCLUDING THE OFFER TO PURCHASE, THE FORM OF LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL AND OTHER TENDER OFFER RELATED DOCUMENTS) AND THE SOLICITATION/RECOMMENDATION STATEMENT ON SCHEDULE 14D-9, AND ANY AMENDMENTS THERETO, AS WELL AS OTHER DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC, BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Investors and shareholders are able to obtain free copies of the Tender Offer Statement, the Solicitation/Recommendation Statement and other documents filed with the SEC by Chiquita through the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov. In addition, investors and shareholders are able to obtain free copies of the Tender Offer Statement, the Solicitation/Recommendation Statement and other documents filed with the SEC by Chiquita by contacting Chiquita Investor Relations at: Chiquita Brands International, Inc., c/o Corporate Secretary, 550 South Caldwell Street, Charlotte, North Carolina 28202 or from the Information Agent named in the tender offer materials.

Forward-Looking Statements
This communication contains certain "forward-looking statements" with respect to certain plans and objectives of Chiquita and Cutrale-Safra with respect to the proposed acquisition of Chiquita by Cutrale-Safra, the tender offer and the related merger, including the timing of the completion of the tender offer and the merger, under the merger agreement between Chiquita and Cutrale-Safra. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate only to historical or current facts. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. There are several factors which could cause actual plans to differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, the risk that the acquisition of Chiquita and the tender offer and the merger may not be consummated in a timely manner as a result of pending regulatory approvals. Neither Chiquita nor Cutrale-Safra or Cavendish Acquisition Corporation assumes any obligation to update the information contained in this communication (whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise), except as required by applicable law.

Cutrale-Safra Media Contact: Jeremy Fielding / Stef Goodsell
Kekst and Company
(212) 521-4858/4878
[email protected] / [email protected]

Chiquita Contacts
Investors
Steve Himes
980-636-5636
[email protected]

Media
Ed Loyd
1 980-636-5145
[email protected]

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SOURCE The Cutrale Group; The Safra Group