Fruit distributor Fyffes has bought out the remaining shareholders in Lembcke, the Danish fresh produce group. Fyffes, which bought 50 per cent of the group 13 years ago, has paid 125 million krone (€16.8 million), for the remaining equity.

Fyffes also bought two Danish distributors of bananas, Interbanan and Valby Bananimport, for a combined 45 million krone. The companies posted total pretax profit of 5 million krone last year and their assets amounted to 43.8 million krone.

Copenhagen-based Lembcke will continue to be managed by its namesake family, although Ole Lembcke will retire as chairman of the board. He will be replaced by Fyffes executive director Rory Byrne.

Lembcke, founded in 1923, supplies fruit and vegetables to supermarkets, grocers and wholesalers in Denmark and other parts of Scandinavia. The company, which employs more than 245 people, recorded pretax profit of 43.2 million krone in 2005 and had assets of 315.5 million krone.

Fyffes's acquisitions in Denmark come less than a week after it agreed to buy Spain's Medicitrus for a "small amount," a purchase that marked its first foray into the citrus fruits market.

The Irish fresh produce distributor spun off its property portfolio, now known as Blackrock International, earlier this year to focus on expanding its main business. Under the demerger terms, Fyffes took a 40 per cent stake in Blackrock in return for €83 million, while its shareholders got the remaining 60 per cent of the company.