Castle & Cooke Tells SEC How It Plans to Spin Off Food Unit

Castle & Cooke, a Los Angeles-based holding company, has filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission detailing how it will spin off its subsidiary, Dole Food Co., company officials said Thursday.

David H. Murdock, Castle & Cooke chairman and chief executive, announced last May that the holding company intended to split into two separate corporations--one for food production and distribution, and the other for real estate development.

In a written statement released Thursday, the company said it has filed its preliminary statements; final versions have yet to be filed and mailed to shareholders.

“As previously announced, for each Castle share held, shareholders will receive an additional share of Dole,” the written statement said.

Dole, the world’s largest producer of pineapple, also markets other fruits and vegetables, some of them grown in California. Castle & Cooke owns an entire Hawaiian island, Lanai, and has holdings in California and Arizona.