Chiquita considering moving headquarters to Atlanta

<p>Chiquita Brands International Inc. is considering moving its corporate headquarters to Atlanta or southern Florida, the company's chairman and chief executive said in a note to employees Tuesday.</p><p>Fernando Aguirre said the company, one of the world's top banana producers and a distributor of other fresh fruits and vegetables, is searching for the most beneficial site. Its lease in downtown Cincinnati is up in August.</p><p>"Our objective in evaluating locations is to select the one that provides the most long-term benefits to the company," Aguirre said.</p><p>Chiquita will use factors such as cost, quality of life and access to transportation to make its decision, spokesman Mike Mitchell said.</p><p>If the company chooses to move, the Cincinnati area will lose about 300 high-paying jobs. State and local officials there are offering the company, which has about 25,000 employees worldwide, new incentives to stay.</p><p>Company executives often fly through Atlanta from Cincinnati, a Delta Air Lines hub, en route to Latin America, where most of the company's employees are located, Mitchell said.</p><p>Cincinnati's economic development director, Chad Munitz, said he has proposed a set of tax incentives to Chiquita consultants, but he would not reveal them.</p><p>The Ohio Department of Development says Ohio's recent tax reform will benefit Chiquita, because it phases out a corporate franchise tax and replaces it in part with a commercial activity tax.</p><p>"It should really minimize their tax obligations because the preponderance of their sales would be outside of Ohio," said Chris Smith, the department's regional representative.</p><p>Shares of Chiquita fell 13 cents Tuesday to close at $25.72 on the New York Stock Exchange. Its stock has traded between $16.50 and $31.09 over the last year.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1d04e34)</p>