‘The Irish Times’ Business Person of the Month: Carl McCann

Total Produce chairman Carl McCann is the recipient of The Irish Times Business Person of the Month Award for January, in association with KPMG.

A founder of Total Produce in 2006, McCann was a key figure behind the deal to acquire an initial 45 per cent stake in Dole Foods in the United States, one of the largest producers of fruit and vegetables in the world.

For the 12 months ended October 7th 2017, Dole generated revenue and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $4.5 billion (€3.7 billion) and $237 million respectively. The transaction consideration implies a Dole enterprise value of about $2 billion.

Total control beckons

The $300 million cash transaction came to fruition late in the month with Total Produce expected to exercise its right to purchase all the shares in Dole within five years.

‘Irish Times’ Business Person of the Year awards to take place in May

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‘The Irish Times’ Business Person of the Month: Garry Moroney

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‘The Irish Times’ Business Person of the Month: Deirdre Somers

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‘The Irish Times’ Business Person of the Month: Harry Hughes

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To help fund the deal, Total Produce successfully placed 63 million new ordinary shares with investors, raising gross proceeds of €145 million. This represented 19 per cent of the total issues share capital of the company prior to the placing.

The deal is subject to certain regulatory approvals, which are expected by the middle of this year. But it has the potential to be transformational for the Irish listed company.