Dive Brief:
- Glass Lewis & Co., a proxy advisory service with tremendous influence on Wall Street, says it is still advising Chiquita shareholders to vote against the company's proposed takeover of Fyffes, and to instead consider a takeover offer from Brazil's Cutrale and Safra investment groups.
- A statement opposing the deal comes just one day after rival proxy service Institutional Shareholder Services, which also wields considerable power among investors, changed its earlier opinion and urged shareholders to back the Fyffes deal.
- Shareholders are scheduled to vote on the Fyffes merger proposal at a special meeting Friday.
Dive Insight:
Now that both Chiquita and the Brazilians have tweaked their respective plans, shareholders are suddenly facing a fairly unusual event in the world of proxy battles — a split among the advisory services over the terms of a major transaction.
That will likely translate into a very close vote on Friday.