Camanchaca will pay nearly $90 million for remaining stake in Pesca Sur
Camanchaca and Grupo Bio Bio sought arbitration to resolve a disagreement relating to the sale of a 30 percent stake in Camanchaca’s Pesca Sur pelagic division.
Chilean seafood giant Camanchaca will have to pay $87.2 million (€80.5 million) to acquire the 30 percent stake in its PescaSur fisheries division it doesn’t already own.
Camanchaca and Grupo Bio Bio sought arbitration to resolve a disagreement relating to the sale of a 30 percent stake in Camanchaca’s Pesca Sur pelagic division.
Camanchaca currently owns 70 percent of Pesca Sur and Bio Bio 30 percent.
Under an agreement, Camanchaca is obliged to acquire Bio Bio’s full stake should it opt to sell. In mid-September, Bio Bio informed Camanchaca of its intention to do so.
Bio Bio will receive payment via dividends distributed through Camanchaca Pesca Sur.
Two unnamed investment banks working as arbitrators, delivered an average valuation of $290.75 million (€268.4 million) for PescaSur as a whole, Camanchaca said in a note to the Santiago Stock Exchange.
The companies themselves put widely differing vales on Pesca Sur, with Bio Bio valuing the division at $93.2 million (€90.2 million) and Camanchaca offering $48 million (€46.5 million).
Under the terms of the agreement with valuations varying by more than 10 percent, the sale price would have to be adjudicated by an investment bank or a mutually agreeable expert.
The Camanchaca Pesca Sur Division boasts a fleet of five deep-sea purse seine vessels and four crustacean fishing vessels. It also operates four separate canning, frozen products, crustaceans and fishmeal and fish oil processing plants.
Camanchaca CEO Ricardo Garcia told attendees at the North Atlantic Seafood Forum in March that the acquisition will be the largest by the company “in years, “bringing the profitable and growing division fully under its control.
Camanchaca Pesca Sur was established as a joint venture between Camanchaca and Chile’s Stengel family in 2011. The division harvests and processes primarily jack mackerel, sardines and anchovies. Camanchaca Pesca Sur primarily serves the African market.
Miami-based Antarctica Advisors advised the sellers on the transaction.
SOURCE: Intrafish