Bank to auction 30,000 tons cocoa factory to defray GH¢33m debt
The processing plant of Real Products Limited, a cocoa processor at the Apowa West Industrial Free zone in the Western Region, is to be auctioned to help defray a GH¢33 million debt owed to a bank.
The auction of the plant, which can process 30,000 tons of cocoa beans annually, is schedule to take place in the morning of Friday, April 27 at the company’s premises.
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It was ordered by the Commercial Division of the High Court in Sekondi, a notice on the auction published in the Monday, April 16 edition of the Daily Graphic said.
Interested buyers will be bidding for the land, equipment and machinery of the Real Products, the notice explained.
Graphic Online understands that the company is owned by an investor based in Ecuador.
Sources told Graphic Online in confidence that the GH¢33 million is a loan the bank granted to the foreign company years back but repayment stalled due to lack of funds. It is, however, not clear if the processing plant was used as collateral to secure the loan.
They added that many investors, comprising existing companies and persons wishing to venture into the cocoa processing business, have since visited the factory to inspect its facilities prior to the auction.
It is expected that the successful auction of the company’s plant will relief owners of the cocoa grinder of the debt burden while strengthening the finances of the bank.
The company said on its website that installation of 30,000 tons plant was completed in 2012, paving the way for actual processing of beans to start in the end of that year.
The factory is installed to process beans into finished and semi-finished products, mostly for the international market.
Its website said Real Products is a subsidiary of the Cafiesa International Group, a company registered in the United States of America in November 2012.
