The tide appears to be turning after a period of instability in Spain’s seafood industry.
On 3 October, Actemsa won court approval of a restructuring plan that will see the A Coruña, Spain-headquartered seafood firm avoid bankruptcy.
Actemsa, which operates a 12,000-square-meter processing plant as well as a canning facility in Brazil, filed a pre-bankruptcy notice on 27 October 2023, revealing EUR 114 million (USD 120.5 million) in debt as a result of struggles with overtstock and plunging tuna sales.
Under the restructuring, Actemsa will be merged with the Villaval real estate firm, and the new entity will become a limited company. It will contribute EUR 7.5 million (USD 8.2 million) to its creditors via a capital reduction, and fellow Spanish seafood firms Jealsa and Albacora will each contribute EUR 9 million (USD 9.9 million) in participatory loans, according to Faro de Vigo. Albacora will supply Actemsa with raw material, and Jealsa has promised to purchase Actemsa’s products.
“[They] are committed to providing the essential support and assistance to promote the viability and continuity of the chilled loin business over the 10-year period of the plan,” Actemsa wrote of Jealsa and Albacora.
The deal condemns financial creditors Santander, Sabadell, Ibercaja, and CaixaBank to take a 65 percent reduction on one of the tranches of its debt, with the remainder of their collective EUR 40 million (USD 44 million) in debt to be paid off as much as possible by Actemsa through the divestment of real estate assets and income from outstanding invoices. Of the EUR 95.3 million (USD 104.6 million) in assets affected by the restructuring, Actemsa has pledged to pay off EUR 20 million (USD 22 million) in total debt, with the remainder moved into a debt-for-capital swap to be repaid over 10 years with a 3.5 percent payment-in-kind interest rate, according to Faro de Vigo.
Keeping Actemsa an operating entity will ensure the preservation of 160 full-time jobs and 400 additional jobs indirectly tied to its business.
“This is a success story that shows that when all the parties involved in the restructuring join forces and row in the same direction, the rescue and continuity of viable companies from a business point of view can be achieved, despite the fact that they are going through a complicated financial situation,” José Carlos González, the managing partner of Ceca Magán, a firm that organized the restructuring, told Faro de Vigo.
Exhibiting its own strength, Jealsa recently committed to rebuilding its seafood-processing facility in Bodión, Spain, which was lost to fire in May 2021.
The company has not yet ...
