Galician canner Mar de Couso will receive a grant worth EUR 2.7 million for its restructuring and viability plans. (Photo: Mar de Couso)

Mln-dollar aid for two Galician firms

SPAIN
Monday, October 26, 2009, 08:30 (GMT + 9)

The Galician Institute of Economic Promotion (IGAPE) will invest EUR 3.97 million as support for the restructuring and viability plans of two fishing companies located in the municipality of Santa Uxia de Ribeira, A Corunna.

Of the total to be endowed by the dependant entity of the Council of Economy and Industry of the Xunta de Galicia, EUR 2.7 million will be consigned to the Conservas Selectas Mar de Couso company, which employs 39 workers.

That investment represents 37.5 per cent of a EUR 7.4 million bank loan, allocated to the debt and cash refinancing.

Meanwhile, IGAPE will guarantee a EUR 1.2 million contribution to the company Alvarez e Hijos, dedicated to wild capture fishing. The firm employs 50 people..

That money represents 60 per cent of a EUR 2 million loan, the Xunta indicated.

Mar de Couso manufactures and commercialises an ample canned-product range positioned in the high-quality segment, due to the raw materials used and the artisanal process employed during cleaning and packaging.

The company sells 80 per cent of its production under the Mar de Couso brand, and exports to Switzerland and Italy, among other countries.

In early 2009, it opened an office in the tax-free zone of Dubai, in a bid to expand its business in the Middle East.

Mar de Couso was launched in 2002 with the purpose of uniting the artisanal canning tradition of Galicia with more advanced technologies, and offer “the levels of excellence demanded by international markets.”

By Analia Murias
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com