The latest transactions confirmed by the Romero groupthrough acts of importance reported to the Superintendence of the Securities Market (SMV) They are the sale of your sugar business Agrícola del Chirawhere the Guatemalan Magdalena ingenuity It was made of 80% of the share capital of the Peruvian company after having signed a contract of sale among those mentioned.
In addition, he also announced that Centinela fishing has been acquired by Exalmarwhich was made 100% of the shares. In both cases, the Peruvian holding He said that the term of the operation is subject to compliance with certain preceding conditions, so the definitive closure of the transaction will occur once the fulfillment of these has been verified.
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Martin Reaño Azpilcueta, main partner in Reaño & Linares Financial Advisorsmaintains that these operations reflect an active strategy of disinvestment by the Romero Groupwhich is focused on the rotation of Non -strategic assets.
“Both sales went to groups highly specialized in their respective sectorssuggesting that operational continuity and the capture of synergies in the production processes were prioritized”He told Management.
Complemented that both transactions are considered important for the Peruvian market, because Sentinel It is a company that obtained sales for US $ 95 million in 2024 and which has 11 boats and three processing plants, focus on the elaboration of flour and fish oil from species such as anchovy, mackerel and jurel. While your buyer Exalmar It is the second largest national flour producer and fish oilreporting income for US $ 456 million.
On the other hand, Agrícola del Chira It is a Peruvian company dedicated to sugarcane cultivation and ethanol production in the Chira Valley (Piura), operating approximately 9,500 hectares of sugarcane, with an estimated annual production of 1 million tons of cane. In addition, it owns two key subsidiaries: Sucroalcoholera del Chirawhich produces around 370,000 liters of ethanol per day; and Bioenergy of Chirawhich generates electricity from biomass.
Together, these operations registered sales of US $ 85 million in 2024 for Agrícola del ChiraUS $ 17 million for Bioenergy of Chira and US $ 101 million for Sucroalcoholera del Chira. Meanwhile, its buyer Ingenio Magdalena is the largest producer of sugar in Guatemalaresponsible for more than 24% of ground rod and the production of sugar of the country, as well as one of the main exporters of refined sugar in Latin America.
Exalmar will be a new owner of fisheries.
Although in the first months of 2025 the Romero Group He has signed two agreements, these would not be the only ones, because towards the end of March Management He knew that the tap network Primax It had also been sold, to which the National Holding Communications area replied that this transaction would be in its “final section.”
While from the holding de Primax They pointed out that the process is confidential and has not yet been completed, the Saudi Aramco It would not be the only one involved in this negotiation, but other companies of the same item.
Luis Rodríguez, Director of the Rodríguez Lawyers & Associates Studiocommented that a company Analyze several factors to sell your business, being one of them the level of profitability they have and the possible liquidity that the sale could generate.
“In the case of the holding Romero, Agrícola del Chira Before, try to be sold and this is his second attempt. Remember that it was first with Gloria that in the end it did not materialize and now they are doing it again to try to transfer society to another legal person”The expert said.
For its part, Reaño Azpilcueta adds that what is observed is that the Romero Group is being concentrated in their business of the sectors of health, Financial system y foodwhile in other countries it is growing through acquisitions. He also recalled that local holding already has a family officewhich has as a mission to identify opportunities for investment For the conglomerate, as well as in disinvesting in that is not central.
In the opinion of Rodríguez and considering the activity that has been having the Romero Groupmore sales could be reported from Peruvian holding and keeping the companies they consider has the most interesting profits. In addition, another conclusion that makes the sale of its businesses could be given to generate liquidity and subsequently specify the acquisition of a new enterprise.
“In this type of companies large, they are usually they who launch their operations and have already identified a list of buyers who are potential closures”, The lawyer complemented.
Agrícola del Chira would be sold to Guatemalan company. Photo: Dissemination
2024 was also active for companies of the Romero Group. Last November, Alicorp reported the closure of the transaction of sale of your business of grinding (flour and refined oils made from sunflower and soy seeds) in favor of ASAI Capital Holdings Ltd.a company that brings together a group of entrepreneurs with performance in different sectors of Bolivia.
The acquisition involved the full of the actions it maintains in companies OIL INDUSTRIAS SA y Hammer S.A.S., also including all the actions in the subsidiary R Trading S.A. The final figure of the transaction was US $ 172.8 million, which included deferred payments associated with the transaction that amounts to US $ 27.8 million, which the firm expects to receive in the next 18 to 24 months.
In addition, Alicorp of the Romero Groupthrough its subsidiary Masterbread He sold his brand Mud To the Argentine multinational Arcorso that you have the right to use such denomination in the categories of chocolates, candies y candies. He also added that they sold their productive lines associated with the aforementioned categories.
“Masterbread It continues to be the owner of the brand Mud and can maintain the exploitation of said brand in categories in categories other than those indicated above, as it currently does in cookies y panettone“, accurate Alicorp.
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Social communicator graduated at the University of San Martín de Porres. Currently, it is written for the Business Section of the newspaper Management.
