Dole Food Company Inc. has signed an agreement sell its ripening and distribution businesses in Spain and Portugal to the Compagnie Fruitière Group, in which it has an ownership stake.

The Westlake Village company, the world’s largest producer and marketer of fresh fruit and vegetables, said that the Dole Spain deal is in line with the 2008 sale of its ripening and distribution businesses in France and England to Compagnie Fruitière.

Dole holds a non-controlling 40 percent stake in Compagnie Fruitière, with the founding Fabre family owning the rest of the company. Terms of the deal, which is expected to close in November, were not disclosed.

The sale “will allow Dole and Compagnie Fruitière to better serve our Spanish and Portuguese markets, by providing our customers with an extended range of product origins and a more integrated sales policy,” said Dole Europe President Johan Linden in a statement.

The announcement was made a few hours before the markets closed on Tuesday. Dole shares closed down 17 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $10.14 on the New York Stock Exchange.