US Bankruptcy Court Judge Laurie Silverstein has approved Fong Chun Formosa (FCF) Fishery Company’s bid for Bumble Bee Foods, giving the Kaohsiung, Taiwan-based tuna supplier ownership and control over the iconic American brand.
In November 2019, FCF entered a stalking-horse bid for Bumble Bee, which had filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US state of Delaware. FCF has long been one of Bumble Bee’s top suppliers of albacore, skipjack, yellowfin, and bigeye tuna.
On Tuesday, January 21, a scheduled auction for Bumble Bee was called off after no other bidders emerged. The sale was finalized by Silverstein in a court hearing on Thursday, January 23.
FCF will pay a base price of US$925.6 million for Bumble Bee, according to court documents. It will also take on nearly all of Bumble Bee’s liabilities, including US$17 million still due as part of the company’s guilty plea to fixing the prices of canned tuna in an antitrust case brought by the US Department of Justice.
Full Content: Seafood Source
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