Murdock gets to
take Dole private

The billionaire upped
his offer to $33.50 per share,
for a $2.5 billion deal

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Associated Press
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. >> Dole Foods chairman David H. Murdock has agreed to buy the rest of the giant food company and take it private in a $2.5 billion deal.

Murdock will pay $33.50 per share for the approximately 76 percent of the company's outstanding common stock he doesn't already own, Dole said in a statement late yesterday.

That's $4 a share more than the price the self-made billionaire offered in September, when he first proposed to take the world's largest producer of fresh foods and produce private.

In midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Dole shares were up 14.5 percent, or $4.13 a share, to $32.58.

"I believe the company can be better managed as a private company," Murdock told the Ventura County Star in a telephone interview shortly before the deal was announced.

"I'm buying it, so I don't think it's a bad deal, but it's not a steal at this price," he added. "It's a very steep price in today's market "

He and Dole's board of directors announced the agreement late last night, hours before his September offer, extended twice, was to expire. It must still be approved by Dole shareholders and the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.

The transaction was unanimously approved by Dole's board of directors, with Murdock abstaining. It had also received the unanimous approval of an independent committee that was formed Sept. 24 to respond to Murdock's original offer.

That offer was rejected in October and the company sought other buyers.

Dole shares closed at $28.45 yesterday on the New York Stock Exchange before the deal was announced.

Taking the company private will free Murdock both from having to pursue the wishes of shareholders pushing for higher stock prices and of having to promote Dole to Wall Street analysts, something he acknowledged he doesn't enjoy.

Some observers have complained that his reluctance to sing the company's praises has depressed its stock value.

"I think we've been a well run, a very, very conservative company," he said yesterday. "We think that if you run a company well the market should accept it as being well run ... but they believe it should be touted ... which is not what I've ever believed in doing."

The 79-year-old Murdock, who made his fortune in real estate, also said he has no plans to retire or to quit shopping for companies.