The sale of China Fishery Group’s Peruvian assets has been delayed by a trustee appointed to oversee the company’s bankruptcy proceedings
China Fishery Group (CFG), part of Pacific Andes International Holdings, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2016. The court-appointed trustee of CFG, William J. Brandt, Jr., previously told SeafoodSource he expected to take bids on CFG through 8 December and hold an auction on 13 December.
However, last month, Brandt filed notice that the bid deadline, auction and the sale hearing have been indefinitely postponed.
In an interview with SeafoodSource, Brandt called the initial dates “aspirational,” saying national holidays in Peru and Asia had caused delays, as had the difficulty of traveling to CFG remote properties around Peru.
Brandt had been seeking as much as USD 1.7 billion (EUR 1.4 billion) for the properties – the equivalent of the amount of debt owed by CFG. However, some experts in the Peruvian fishmeal industry say that price tag is overly ambitious. Pablo Trapunsky, the former chief executive officer of Peruvian fishmeal and fish oil producer Copeinca, which was bought by CFG in 2013, said Brandt’s asking price is too high.
“It’s quite hard to justify an offer as high as USD 1 billion (EUR 850 million), which trustees are asking for,” Trapunsky said. “Current price will be around USD 800 million (EUR 680 million). I’m pretty sure creditors won’t be happy to hear that, but this is reality.”
CFG Peru operates 10 active plants processing fishmeal in Peru, with another seven fishmeal processing plants and one canning plant currently inoperative. It also owns 52 fishing vessels catching anchovy, mackerel ,and jack mackerel.
