Vigo, Spain-based tuna specialist Atunlo has reportedly failed to meet requirements for avoiding liquidation after a lengthy bankruptcy process.
Atunlo entered the pre-bankruptcy process in November 2023 citing financial difficulties due to global trading shifts, a surplus of tuna 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 on 7 November 2023 to start the process and attempt to restructure its debt and avoid bankruptcy.
That process failed, and the company entered bankruptcy in May 2024 amid reported tension between Inpesca, Coper, and Marpesca – which owns the final 20 percent of Atunlo.
In February, Faro de Vigo reported the company was still working through a plan to restructure and stave off liquidation, and was seeking approval from 65 percent of its creditors to agree to the proposal. At the time, the company had 61 percent agreement.
Atunlo was proposing an eight-year repayment plan that would alleviate the EUR 120 million (USD 130 million) in debt. The plan had multiple pillars – including continuing production and increasing sales of its products. However, Faro de Vigo reported that creditors opposed to the plan were more interested in liquidation to recover what they could, rather than waiting eight years for compensation.
Now, Faro de Vigo reports those efforts have again fallen short, as it could not get any more creditors to agree by the 27 March deadline.
“They’re going to inform the court that they won’t be able to reach the deadline,” Faro de Vigo said a high level source at the company confirmed.
According to reporting by La voz de Galicia, the financial institutions that bore the majority of Atunlo’s debt refused the eight-year repayment plan.
Management within the company also disagreed on how best to rectify its financial situation, media reported. Inpesca had already declared Atunlo “dead” amid the bankruptcy proceedings, and decided to stop supplying it with product per a previous contractual agreement. La voz de Galicia reported Coper considered taking Inpesca to court over the halt, claiming it was engaging in unfair business practices.
Because of a lack of raw material, Atunlo shuttered its Santoña and O Grove facilities, and made the decision in February 2024 to close its Cape Verde factory, which it inaugurated in 2015.
The company also faced problems in Portugal, where a joint project between Atunlo and Marfrio went south after Portuguese courts found a EUR 3 million (USD 3.2 million) deficit due to non-payment that it determined was a result of Atunlo mismanagement.
