Dongwon to acquire tuna cannery in Senegal

Korean food and financial conglomerate Dongwon has signed an agreement to acquire Société Nouvelle Conserveries du Senegal (SNCDS), a leading cannery in Senegal, for $21m in order to expand its presence in Africa.

SNCDS has an annual production capacity of 25,000t of canned tuna and other fishery products.

Following the acquisition, Dongwon plans to set up a new subsidiary in Senegal to operate SNCDS, and the investment is expected to create more than 2,000 jobs.

The company also plans to supply products from Senegal to the US through StarKist, a seafood company it acquired from Del Monte Foods for $359m in 2008.