Resignations Hurt Stock of Produce Firm

Coral Gables, Fla. —  Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. shares fell more than 7% on Monday after a report said two independent directors have resigned.

Marvin Bush, a brother of President Bush, and Stephen Way left the company recently, BB&T; Capital Markets analyst Heather Jones said.

Salvatore Alfiero, chief executive of Protective Industries, and Kathryn Falberg are new additions to the board, Jones added.

The departures occurred in October, weeks before former shareholders sued Fresh Del Monte, accusing current controllers of bribing the head of a Mexican government-affiliated investment group to buy the company. The company didn’t announce the resignations because there were “no negative issues” related to them, spokeswoman Christine Cannella said.

Way said in an interview that he resigned “six weeks to two months ago” because of time constraints from running HCC Insurance Holdings Inc., where he serves as chairman and CEO. Bush, president and co-founder of Winston Partners Group, didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

Bush “decided to resign from all public companies he served on to dedicate more time and attention to his firm,” Cannella said.

Falberg was chief financial officer of Inamed Corp. from April to July of last year. She is a board member of Visx Inc.

Coral Gables-based Fresh Del Monte fell $1.48 to $18.01 on the New York Stock Exchange.