Australian salmon firm Tassal on Friday (10 December) put itself on the block and said it was ready to discuss takeover bids for the business.Tassal, which has already turned down one offer from Pacific Equity Partners, said it was open to talks with interested parties.

Pacific Equity Partners has had a bid for Tassal rejected after the Tasmania-based processor said the offer under-valued the business.

However, today, Tassal said it would “hold discussions with third parties regarding the possibility of those parties making a change of control proposal for Tassal – at a price and on terms that are acceptable”. In its statement, Tassal said Pacific Equity Partners would be “invited to participate in those discussions”.

The company has also invited seafood group Pacific Andes Resources Development (PARD) to participate in the talks. Yesterday, it emerged that PARD had bought a 19.8% stake in Tassal from agribusiness group Webster’s.

Nevertheless, Tassal added: “There is no assurance that this process will result in any formal proposal for a change of control transaction being submitted for Tassal shareholders’ consideration.”

just-food is the world’s leading portal for the global pre-packaged food and retail industries. Its daily mix of breaking news, views, analysis and research serves over 100,000 food executives each month. http://www.just-food.com/

Share