- Chairman and biggest shareholder David Murdock helms the deal
- Murdock took the food producer private twice in a decade
David H. Murdock, the 94-year-old owner of Dole Food Co., is taking the fruit and vegetable producer through its third initial public offering.
It’s the latest step in a long, colorful history involving Murdock and Dole. He took the 166-year-old company private for the first time in 2003, after rescuing the food producer from bankruptcy more than two years earlier. Murdock oversaw the re-listing of Dole in a 2009 IPO.
A decade after his first buyout, in 2013, Murdock took Dole private again while he was chairman, chief executive officer and the biggest shareholder. Many shareholders thought the buyout price of $13.50 a share was too low,…