Five companies may combine to run former Yoma tannery
27/11/2007
After unsuccessful attempts to auction it off at the start of the month, the former Yoma tannery at Nonogasta in northern Argentina could now be taken over by a consortium of five companies.
The tannery became available after Yoma filed for bankruptcy in September. This followed an environmental scandal at the site when villagers blamed pollution from the facility for defects in new-born animals in the area. The local authorities insisted that a new waste-management system must be put in place before leather production could continue. The previous owner said it was unable to fund the investment necessary for this and went out of business.
There was speculation in October that Brazilian tanning groups Bom Retiro and Finehide were preparing to bid for the site, but the five mentioned now are all Argentinian.
Meat-packing firms Bancalari and Mattievich are reported to be the main drivers for the latest initiative. If the bid is successful, the two meat companies will be joined by Ranco Chemical, a company called PEL that will take charge of selling the finished leather, and another called Grupo Cohen, which will take charge of financing the operation, will complete the line-up.
The managing director of Mattievich, Jorge Torelli, told Argentinian media today that part of the Nonogasta plant was still running, with workers producing leather for third-party companies. He said there ought to be no difficulty in having the former Yoma workers continue with that activity in the meantime and step up when the time came to launch the tannery as a stand-alone business again.
The next date for a possible sale of the site to go through is 6 December. The local authorities have already given their approval for the group of five to take over.
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