Fyffes is unaware of any property developers who might be stakebuilding in the company to take advantage of its plans to de-merge a new property venture, according to Carl McCann, chairman of the fruit firm.
Mr McCann said "no well-known names" had appeared on the Fyffes share register, but he acknowledged that it would be impossible to identify all shareholders because of nominee accounts and other structures.
Rumours of stakebuilding have been circulating for several months and were still in the market yesterday as Fyffes shares rose by 11 cent to €2.15 on heavy volume.
Fyffes is due to send a circular on the new company, Bluestone, to its shareholders before the end of this month. The de-merger is scheduled to take place before the summer.
The firm will transfer property assets worth €190 million to Bluestone, with properties worth €112 million located in the Republic.
Fyffes will also pump €20 million in cash into the new company so that it can make acquisitions quickly. The focus will be in the UK and the Republic.
When deferred cash is taken into account, the assets of the new company will amount to €200 million.
Fyffes will lease back about half of Bluestone's properties.
The Bluestone de-merger will have an impact on Fyffes's accounts, cutting tangible assets from €283 million to €100 million and net assets from €552 million to €432 million.
Shareholders' equity will fall from €501 million to €381 million. Fyffes, the plc, will meanwhile take a 40 per cent holding in Bluestone, with the remainder of the equity to be distributed among individual Fyffes shareholders.
