A Coruña, Spain-based Congalsa has acquired Sulpasteis, a similarly oriented firm headquartered in Sarzedo Arganil, Portugal. Both companies specialize in the production of frozen, precooked seafood products.
The purchase was announced on 10 February by the company and the Spanish Development Finance Institution (COFIDES), through which it received a joint venture loan of EUR 3.92 million (USD 4.28 million) towards the purchase price of EUR 5.6 million (USD 6.1 million), according to Empresa Exterior.
“The acquisition of Sulpasteis allows us to be more economically robust and invoice over EUR 100 million [USD 109.2 million] per year,” Congalsa General Manager Luis Miguel Simarro said. “This operation will allow our company to grow inorganically and strengthen its position in the international arena, particularly in the Portuguese market, in which we only had a presence as an exporting company.”
Congalsa had EUR 83 million (USD 90.6 million) in sales in 2019, while Sulpasteis reached EUR 17 million (USD 18.6 million) in turnover, according to the business journal.
Congalsa Commercial and Marketing Director Julio Simarro said Sulpasteis’ product line-up of favored Portuguese value-added seafood products – including cod cakes, dumplings, pataniscas (salt cod fritters), and stuffed squid – will help it penetrate further into the Portuguese market. Sulpasteis’ existing distribution network in Portugal, its portfolio of 450 foodservice clients, its production facility in northern Portugal, and its connections to international distributors all attracted Congalsa to the company, he said.
"Having our own factory there will allow us to develop and position our product much faster,” Julio Simarro said, adding that 15 percent of Sulpasteis’ production is shipped to international markets. “[That] will enable Congalsa to obtain new synergies abroad."
Sulpasteis currently employs 125 workers, all of whom will likely be retained by Congalsa, Luis Miguel Simarro said.
Last year, Congalsa invested more than EUR 2 million (USD 2.1 million) in updating a processing facility in Lumar, Spain, according to the Faro de Vigo. The company now operates five production plants in Galicia, with a combined capacity of 60,000 metric tons annually. It has 315 employees produces more than 300 seafood products.
The company joined the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative in April 2018.
