November 1/Westlake Village, Calif./Business Wire -- Dole Food Company Inc. announced that David H. Murdock, Dole’s chairman and chief executive officer, has completed his acquisition of Dole Food Company Inc. The $13.50 per share purchase price represents a total valuation of Dole at over $1.6 billion, including net debt, fees and expenses. The going-private merger agreement was approved on October 31, 2013, at a special meeting of the Dole stockholders. Dole announced that its shares of common stock will cease to be traded on The New York Stock Exchange.

“I am pleased to have concluded the acquisition of Dole and wish to thank our many loyal stockholders. Our stockholders certainly benefitted from a very robust special committee process and the extraordinarily high valuation for the Company. The $13.50 price per share is considerably higher than Dole’s historical stock trading price average,” said Murdock. “I plan to have Dole support my strong personal commitment to promoting a lifestyle and diet which includes significant emphasis on fruits and vegetables and proper nutrition as a basis for improved health and longevity. We will continue to support research efforts to study the impact of nutrition on health and longevity at universities and other non-profit institutions, and to write books and publications in order to broaden our collective knowledge base on the value and benefits from eating fruits and vegetables.”