Ailing Spanish fishing firm Pescanova SA is considering a non-binding takeover offer from a consortium which includes US private equity firm KKR & Co.
According to a report by Reuters, Pescanova filed for insolvency earlier this year after its auditors said managers had attempted to hide the company's debt. The drawn-out insolvency process could end in liquidation or a plan to re-float the company, the report stated.
Reuters, citing a statement made by Pescanova on Friday, said the fishing company received five buyout offers. Pescanova, however, did not put a value on these, as well as on the one presented by the KKR & Co. consortium. The group also includes shareholders Luxempart and Damm and private equity firm Ergon Capital Partners. The bids all required Pescanova's lenders to take varying degrees of losses as part of any takeover deal. The KKR & Co. Consortium would want banks to write off 80% of the debt, Spanish news daily Cinco Dais said.
Bankruptcy administrator Deloitte said this week that Pescanova had €3.2 billion of debt at the end of 2012. This makes it one of Spain's biggest bankruptcies, the report said.
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