Vigo, Spain-based tuna specialist Atunlo has been given a few more days to avoid selling off the company after a commercial court granted it an extension amid its bankruptcy proceedings.
Atunlo first entered the pre-bankruptcy process in November 2023 after suffering from surplus stocks and sales declines. Compañía Internacional de Pesca y Derivados (Inpesca), which owns 40 percent of Atunlo, along with Comercial Pernas (Coper) – which also owns 40 percent – called an urgent extraordinary meeting for Tuesday, 7 November 2023 to start the process.
The company was ultimately unable to restructure its debt and entered the full bankruptcy process in May 2024 amid tension between Inpesca and Coper, along with the third owner Marpesca, which owns 20 percent of the company.
Now, over a year later, the company is still working through its difficulties and is trying to get at least 65 percent of its creditors to agree to a proposal Atunlo said will help avoid liquidation and pay back its debts – which, according to La Voz de Galicia, amounts to EUR 120 million (USD 126 million).
The plan will take eight years from the moment the agreement is signed and would start with paying back the company’s public loan before moving on to face debts from creditors. According to La Voz de Galicia, the company has pending payments with 293 different entities, and the bankruptcy administrator has given the company a valuation of EUR 33 million (USD 34 million) if it remains working.
Faro de Vigo reports the company’s plans have a few main pillars on top of debt production, including the continuity of its main products and an increase in its sales. Atunlo has projected EUR 110 million (USD 115 million) in revenue for 2025 – despite estimating it earned just EUR 24 million (USD 25 million) in 2024.
So far, Atunlo has managed to convince 61 percent of its creditors to go along with its plan. However, despite there being just 4 percent needed to push the plan through, Faro de Vigo reports sources close to the process say the positions of the creditors may be too far apart to bridge the gap before the court-ordered deadline.
“The opposing block is in the position that it is more worthwhile for them to liquidate, with what they can recover from the sale of assets, than to wait eight years,” an insider told the publication.
The new window of opportunity for Atunlo will only remain open until 10 March, after which the company will proceed to a liquidation and sale.
