According to Belgian newspaper De Tijd, Greenyard’s takeover of Dole isn’t entirely off. The newspaper says there’s still a window of opportunity left open. Due to Dole’s high burden of debt, the American company continues to look for a candidate to acquire the company, and Greenyard still has an excellent chance.
Earlier this year, negotiations between the two companies were halted. Although it wasn’t explained why the negotiations stopped, De Tijd indicates the debt problems and legal conflicts Dole is involved in. Allegedly, there are still lawsuits about old stock places of crude oil in California, where a subsidiary of Dole was building houses. Both Shell and Dole are involved in the dispute. Besides, there’s a dossier about pesticide DBCP, which was used in the production of bananas, and is supposed to have harmful consequences for workers. Just in this case, claims could mount to 15 billion dollars.