Peru has seen a new alliance formed in its fishing sector, with the Austral Group taking 50% stake in Pesqueros de Pacifico, a subsidiary of Brescia Group''s TASA, Tecnologica de Alimentos.
The two sides will split share capital of 3.23 million soles as well as ship leasing contracts of up to US$7 million on a 50:50 basis, Gestion, a reliable business daily has reported.
Pesqueros was set up by TASA to focus on jurel and caballa fishing in Peru's high seas. The investment by Austral, a fishing only company (unlike TASA which is part of the well-diversified Brescia Group), is seen as one way to help the company deal with a more competitive environment as well as a way of accessing capital during hard times. It also allows TASA to access experience.
Austral has 38 ships according to its website and 11 processing plants at various locations along the Peruvian coast whilst TASA has 19 ships, eight of which have refrigeration systems and five processing plants.
