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Banana Giant Mulls Move to Atlanta
Ohio Officials Offering Incentives to Keep Firm

POSTED: 5:01 am EDT October 12, 2005
UPDATED: 5:25 am EDT October 12, 2005

CINCINNATI -- Chiquita Brands International Inc. is considering moving its corporate headquarters to Atlanta or southern Florida, the company's chairman and chief executive said in a note to employees Tuesday.

Fernando Aguirre said the company, one of the world's top banana producers and a distributor of other fresh fruits and vegetables, is searching for the most beneficial site. Its lease in downtown Cincinnati is up in August.

"Our objective in evaluating locations is to select the one that provides the most long-term benefits to the company," Aguirre said.

Chiquita will use factors such as cost, quality of life and access to transportation to make its decision, spokesman Mike Mitchell said.

If the company chooses to move, the Cincinnati area will lose about 300 high-paying jobs. State and local officials there are offering the company, which has about 25,000 employees worldwide, new incentives to stay.

Company executives often fly through Atlanta from Cincinnati, a Delta Air Lines hub, en route to Latin America, where most of the company's employees are located, Mitchell said.

Cincinnati's economic development director, Chad Munitz, said he has proposed a set of tax incentives to Chiquita consultants, but he would not reveal them.

The Ohio Department of Development says Ohio's recent tax reform will benefit Chiquita, because it phases out a corporate franchise tax and replaces it in part with a commercial activity tax.

"It should really minimize their tax obligations because the preponderance of their sales would be outside of Ohio," said Chris Smith, the department's regional representative.

Shares of Chiquita fell 13 cents Tuesday to close at $25.72 on the New York Stock Exchange. Its stock has traded between $16.50 and $31.09 over the last year.