Worldwide Fishing Company (WOFCO) has acquired Domaio, Pontevedra, Spain-based seafood firm Fandicosta out of bankruptcy.
The transaction, rumored since 2023, was finalized 17 June, according to Faro de Vigo. It will make WOFCO, which amassed EUR 412 million (USD 441 million) in sales in 2023, the third-largest seafood company in Spain behind Nueva Pescanova and Grupo Profand. Fandiscosta had EUR 136 million (USD 145.6 million) in sales in 2022.
Founded in 1989, Fandicosta owns Casa Botas, Peixemar, Bonfrig, and a 50 percent share of Argentinean fishing firm Pesquera Cruz del Sur, as well as a marketing firm. It is a catcher and seller of frozen, chilled, and pre-cooked seafood products to foodservice outlets and food product manufacturers, selling mostly to European buyers, and it operates a processing facility in Moaña, Spain, which was rebuilt in 2016 after a fire at a cost of EUR 25 million (USD 26.8 million).
WOFCO, founded in 2016 and based in Vigo, Spain, has grown into an international seafood processor and trader, with operations in Holland, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, the U.S., Morocco, Vietnam, and China.
Fandicosta initiated a bankruptcy process in October 2023 as higher interest rates impacted its nearly EUR 100 million (USD 107 million) in debt. WOFCO will take on EUR 19.5 million (USD 20.9 million) in debt, while the banks with holdings in Fandicosta agreed to take a 60 percent reduction in the value of their shares, valued at a loss of EUR 78 million (USD 83.5 million). WOFCO agreed to retain 75 percent of Fandicosta’s employees, according to Atlántico. The newspaper reported the two sides repaired relations and got a deal done after WOFCO withdrew its initial takeover bid in January 2024.
Separately, Vigo, Spain-based tuna specialist Atunlo, which also recently entered bankruptcy proceedings as it confronts more than EUR 160 million (USD 173 million) in debt, is facing potential liquidation.
Compañía Internacional de Pesca y Derivados (Inpesca), which owns 50 percent of Atunlo, has declared the company "dead" and is no longer supplying it with product per its previous contractual arrangement, according to Faro de Vigo.
The odds of Atunlo facing dissolution rose further after ...
