Dole in talks to sell Asia business Dole Food is in advanced discussions with Itochu, a Japanese trading company, about the sale of its packaged foods and Asia businesses. Dole, the US fruit and vegetable producer, said that no definitive agreements had been signed and that it is in talks with several other groups about the sale of those and other assets. Shares of Dole were up nearly 10 per cent to $14.13 on Wednesday. Dole issued the statement in response to a Nikkei report claiming that Itochu planned to pay $1.7bn for the businesses. Dole has struggled to cope with volatile food prices in the last year and in July it reported that its second-quarter net income fell 21 per cent to $65.5m. The company has been hit by the impact of the stronger US dollar and weak pricing for bananas. In May, Dole said that it hired Deutsche Bank Securities and Wells Fargo Securities to consider possible transactions. The company said at the time that it was considering a sale or spin-off of its packaged foods business. It was also exploring the possibility of separating the Asia business and making it a standalone company through a joint venture or initial public offering. "This review continues to be a company priority in our efforts to enhance shareholder value," David DeLorenzo, Dole's chief executive, said in July. The discussions with Itochu come as Japan's trading houses seek to expand into both raw materials and processed foods. The trading houses, like other Japanese companies, are especially keen on acquisitions in faster growing markets to offset the ageing domestic market. Japanese trading houses have accelerated their acquisition efforts in the past few years. In June Marubeni paid an enterprise value of some $5.3bn for Gavilon, the US grain trader. Last year Princes, part of Japan's Mitsubishi Corp, paid £182m for the canning business of Premier Foods, the UK maker of Hovis Bread and Mr Kipling cakes. Itochu did not respond to a request for comment. Dole said in May that it expected a deal to be completed by the end of the year.