Chiquita says sweetened Cutrale-Safra offer not superior

Oct 24 (Reuters) - Chiquita Brands International Inc (NYSE: CQB - news) said Brazilian juice maker Grupo Cutrale and investment firm Safra Group's sweetened offer was not superior to its proposed merger with Irish rival Fyffes Plc (Other OTC: FYFFF - news) , which the banana producer's shareholders will put to a vote on Friday.

Chiquita will only continue discussions with Cutrale-Safra, if its shareholders do not approve the merger with Fyffes, the company said in a statement.

Cutrale-Safra raised its all-cash offer to $14.50 per share from $14 on Thursday, valuing Chiquita at about $682 million.

Fyffes and Chiquita said recently that the implied value of their potential deal ranged from $15.46-$20.01 per share.

Proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services said on Thursday that although it was reluctant to change its recommendation before the vote, Cutrale-Safra's revised offer might be "more compelling to some shareholders". The firm had earlier recommended the merger with Fyffes.

Chiquita's shareholder meeting is scheduled to start at 9:00 a.m. ET.

Chiquita's shares rose 0.6 percent to $13.84 in premarket trading. (Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bangalore; Editing by Simon Jennings)