China Tuna, a Chinese long-line tuna fishing company serving the ravenous Japanese sushi market, has pulled the plug on a planned $150M initial public offering after "negative publicity" and a regulatory backlash.
Los Angeles-based Winner & Associates, part of MSLGroup, handles financial communications for China Tuna.
The company this week cited "negative publicity created by third parties" about its fishing policies and practices in abandoning the Hong Kong Stock Exchange IPO.
Chinese regulators in October suspended CT's IPO plans after it said the company "misled investors and the international community" with rosy projections for a tuna catch that is declining globally. Greenpeace East Asia also pressured Chinese authorities about CT's alleged use of old tuna stock data and the company admitted that China exceeded quotas for Bigeye and Yellowfin tuna in recent years, causing the Chinese government to distance itself from CT, which is incorporated in the Cayman Islands.
As the Guardian noted in critical piece on China Tuna in October, "Reporting on international fishing can often feel like investigating organized crime."
Elsa Lee, senior business advisor at Greenpeace East Asia, said Dec. 10 that China Tuna's scuttled IPO shows a failed business model. "The withdrawal of CTI’s IPO proves that unsustainable fishing is highly risky, and will not get through the scrutiny of financial market regulation, nor attract responsible investors," she said.
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