Alliance Tuna plans to acquire Vietnam, Thai companies Canned Tuna exporter Alliance Tuna International Inc. is planning to expand its product portfolio through acquisitions as it aims to double its revenue next year. Alliance Tuna president and chief executive officer Jonathan Dee said the firm is in talks with two companies in Vietnam and Thailand for possible acquisition deals. “These companies have competitive advantage over certain products we are interested in. We want to make another acquisition because we want to double our size,” he said.
Dee said he is hopeful that a deal with one of the two companies will be closed within the year. While he declined to name the target companies, Dee said the planned acquisitions would be much “more substantial” than the Indonesian venture.
Dee said funding for the company’s expansion will come from debt and internally generated cash.
Alliance Tuna is setting up a subsidiary in Indonesia to be called PT International Alliance Foods Indonesia after buying the assets of PT Karabha Sakti, a tuna cannery in Bitung, Indonesia. Initially capitalized at million, the new unit will process canned tuna for export and is slated to be operational in October this year.
Alliance Tuna has earmarked about P35.7 million for the modernization of the Bitung plant and raise its capacity to 60 metric tons a day on top of a capacity to process 20 MT a day of frozen tuna loins and other marine products.
Dee said the company’s sales are expected to rise by 25 percent this year to P50 million.
In 2007 Alliance Tuna registered revenues of .2 million, up 36 percent from the previous year’s .1 million. The strong sales growth was attributed to the surge in orders from all the major markets, a wider client base and introduction of new products.
The company shipped 956 full container loads of canned tuna products last year, 107 containers more than 2006 shipments.
Alliance Tuna is looking at new markets such as Caspian and Kazakhstan to boost sales and expand its global market reach.
The company’s primary export markets are Europe and North America, which account for 84 percent of its total export sales.
By Zinnia B. Dela Pentilde
“Philippine Star”
