Source: GMA News
Philippine manufacturer, processor, canner, and exporter of canned tuna Alliance Select Foods International Incorporated will acquire an 80-percent stake in Akaroa Salmon NZ Ltd., a New Zealand-based marine salmon farmer and processor of fresh and smoked salmon.
The Akaroa investment will strengthen Alliance’s salmon portfolio. Akaroa is a fully integrated company which will give Alliance direct access to raw materials. In addition, it will allow Alliance to target an additional market segment by offering Akaroa’s fresh portion cuts to institutional and retail buyers like hotels and restaurants in markets like Singapore, Hong Kong, US, South Korea, and Japan.
Alliance said its investment into Akaroa will also enable the Kiwi company to double its farming capacity in the coming years and support its plans to be an export leader in key high-end markets globally.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Alliance said the investment plan was approved during a meeting of the company’s board of directors on Tuesday.
Alliance said that Akaroa is valued at NZ$ 3.5 million. And at current exchange rates, Alliance’s proposed acquisition of an 80-percent stake is valued at NZ$ 2.184 million. The Philippine company will invest another NZ$ 100,000 for Akaroa’s working capital needs.
Alliance said the balance of 20-percent stake will be held by Duncan Bates who joined Akaroa soon after his father founded the company. He will continue in his role as Akaroa’s general manager.
In the same Alliance board meeting, management was given the authority to negotiate and sign a share purchase agreement with Akaroa. The negotiations, documentation and completion of the investment in Akaroa are expected to be closed sometime in August this year.
The board also approved a plan to raise funds to finance the aforementioned Akaroa acquisition through a private placement offering of Alliance’s authorized but unissued capital stock.
The shares will be offered to investors at P1.60 per share, which is a 14.57 percent premium on the 30-day volume weighted average price covering the May 17 to July 2, 2012 period. Alliance will issue 60,668,750 additional shares for the said private placement and these shares constitute 5.67 percent of the company’s expanded capital.
The offering is expected to close just before the signing of the share purchase agreement with Akaroa sometime next month, and the corresponding shares will be applied for listing on the PSE thereafter.