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Chiquita Brands International S.à.r.l. (), formerly known as United Fruit Co., is a Swiss-domiciled American producer and distributor of bananas and other produce. The company operates under a number of subsidiary brand names, including the flagship Chiquita brand and Fresh Express salads. Chiquita is the leading distributor of bananas in the United States. Chiquita is the successor to the United Fruit Company. It was formerly controlled by American businessman Carl Lindner Jr., whose majority ownership of the company ended when Chiquita Brands International exited a prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy on 19 March 2002. In 2003, the company acquired the German produce distribution company, Atlanta AG. Fresh Express salads was purchased from Performance Food Group in 2005. Chiquita's former headquarters were located in Charlotte, North Carolina. On 10 March 2014, Chiquita Brands International Inc. and Fyffes plc announced that the Boards of Directors of both companies unanimously approved a definitive agreement under which Chiquita would combine with Fyffes, in a stock-for-stock transaction that was expected to result in Chiquita shareholders owning approximately 50.7% of ChiquitaFyffes and Fyffes shareholders owning approximately 49.3% of the proposed ChiquitaFyffes, on a fully diluted basis. The agreement would have created the largest banana producer in the world and would have been domiciled in Ireland. An intervening offer by Brazilian companies Cutrale and Safra Group of $611 million in August 2014 was rejected by Chiquita, with the company saying it would continue with its merger with Fyffes. On 24 October, Chiquita announced that the shareholders at a Company Special Meeting had rejected the merger with Fyffes. Instead the Cutrale-Safra acquisition offer was then accepted by the shareholders. History Chiquita Brands International's history began in 1870, when ship's captain Lorenzo Dow Baker purchased 160 bunches of bananas in Jamaica and resold them in Jersey City eleven days later. In 1873, Central American railroad developer Minor C. Keith began to experiment with banana production in Costa Rica. Later, he planted bananas alongside a Costa Rican railroad track to provide revenue for the railroad. In 1878, Baker partnered with Andrew Preston to form the Boston Fruit Company. United Fruit Company was founded in 1899, when the Boston Fruit Company and various fruit exporting concerns controlled by Keith merged. In 1903, United Fruit Company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange and became the first company to use refrigeration during open sea transport. In the same year, a US-funded railroad was built in Guatemala to benefit the company. During this period, United Fruit Company was known for its aggressive and exploitative practices in its operations in Central America. In 1928, workers went on strike in protest against poor pay and working conditions in the company plantations Ciénaga (Colombia). The company lobbied U.S. government forces to assist with repressing the outbreak; however, the Colombian government opted to quell the strike on its own, sending military forces into the town of Ciénaga, where the strikers had gathered, on 6 December. The repression resulted in the deaths of scores of plantation workers and their families. This episode is known in the history of Colombia as the Masacre de las Bananeras (Banana massacre). United Fruit used emotionally charged advertising campaigns to gain support, like "The Great White Fleet," a cruise liner that took American tourists to nations in Central and South America that United Fruit had invested in. Positive corporate image was fostered by commercials, which presented these destinations as exotic, fun excursions. Nevertheless, well planned tourist trips concealed the brutal and corrupt reality that existed on United Fruit's plantations in Latin America. By 1930, the company's fleet had grown to 95 ships. In 1944, the company premiered the "Chiquita Banana" advertising jingle, which extolled the virtues of the fruit as well as when to eat them and how to store them. The song, which had an infectious calypso beat, began with the words "I'm Chiquita Banana, and I've come to say." The brand name Chiquita was registered as a trademark in 1947. In 1952, the government of Guatemala began expropriating unused United Fruit Company land to landless peasants. The company responded by intensively lobbying the U.S. government to intervene and mounting a misinformation campaign to portray the Guatemalan government as communist. In 1954, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency deposed the government of Guatemala, elected in 1950, and installed a pro-business military dictatorship. By 1955, United Fruit Company was processing 2.7 billion pounds (1.2 billion kilograms) of fruit a year. In 1966, the company expanded into Europe. Eli Black came in 1968 and was made chairman, president, and CEO. In 1970, the company merged with AMK Corporation and changed its name to United Brands Company. Black took a controlling interest by outbidding two other conglomerates, Zapata Corporation and Textron. After the suicide of Black in 1975, the company was acquired by Seymour Milstein and Paul Milstein. In 1980, Chiquita was an official sponsor of the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. In 1984, Cincinnati investor Carl Lindner Jr. became the controlling investor in United Brands. In 1990, the company renamed itself Chiquita Brands International, as it undertook major investments in Costa Rica. However, the company began to see a decline in Honduran operations during the first half of 1990. As a result, Chiquita initiated the "Banana Wars" with rival company Fyffes over the limited banana supply. Chiquita began illegally seizing and destroying Fyffes' shipments, as well as bribing judges to validate detention orders on Fyffes' ships. This culminated in the destruction of ten million dollars worth of produce. Fyffes manager Ernst Otto Stalinski alleged that Chiquita used a falsified arrest warrant in a kidnapping attempt, and he filed suit several times. In 1993, the company was hit by European tariffs on the import of Latin American bananas. In 1994, some Chiquita farms were certified by the Rainforest Alliance's Better Banana Project as being environmentally friendly. In 1995, the company sold the John Morrell meat business that was part of the original AMK Corporation. In 1998, the world's largest banana processing facility debuted in Costa Rica. In 2001, the EU dismantled their banana import policy that favored European companies. This ended any ongoing banana disputes. Restructuring In November 2001, Chiquita filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in order to restructure the company. It emerged from the bankruptcy on 19 March 2002, ending Cincinnati businessman Carl H. Lindner Jr.'s control of the company. Also in 2002, Chiquita joined the Ethical Trading Initiative and was named as a top "green st.... Discover the Cameron Mcwhirter popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Cameron Mcwhirter books.