Chilean salmon-farmer, Cultivos Yadran, has secured the extension of a syndicated loan from banks Itau Coprbanca, Banco del Estado de Chile and Banco Santander-Chile for USD 49.3 million, Lexlatin has reported.
The company has the grow-outs, hatcheries and leases to produce 55,000 tonnes of salmon a year, but was in need of re-financing and a loan agreement for its USD 50 million in debt. The company was understood to have negotiated a deal that requires it to pay a newly set interest rate and an undisclosed capital fee to secure the extension.
In 2016, Yadran restructuring brought in the fish-farmer’s feed supplier, Vitapro Chile, which now owns 40 percent of the company’s debt with “guarantees” from Yadran that include a supply agreement but might include a shares-for-debt deal or other assets as security.
Yadran has been farming and processing Coho, Atlantic Salmon and trout since 1986 and has its own hatchery operations. It’s salmon-cultivation and processing lie on Chile’s cold-water, South Pacific coasts.
Of note, Vitapro Chile produces Salmofood feed and is a business of multinational seafood company, Alicorp. Viapro produces fish feed processor on the Island of Chiloé, a salmon-farming center. Vitapro started up in 1995 and now produces 240,000 t of feed a per year.
