MANILA, Philippines--Canned fish exporter Alliance Tuna International Inc. has jacked up its stake in New Zealand?s second-largest smoked salmon processor Prime Foods NZ Ltd. as part of its overseas expansion.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Alliance Tuna said it raised its stake in PFNZ to 50 percent plus one share from 39.4 percent.

Alliance now has one million and one PFNZ shares. The additional shares were acquired at the par value of NZ$1 each. The balance out of PFNZ?s two million outstanding shares is held by Henry Studholme, acting as trustee for HC & JW Studholme Trust.

PFNZ carries both hot and cold salmon and also produces smoked New Zealand green lip mussels and other food items. Its smoked seafood factory is located in the village of Hororata, Canterbury, under the Southern Alps of New Zealand?s South Island.

Alliance Tuna started commercial operations in 2004 to engage in tuna processing, canning, and export of canned tuna products in General Santos City in Mindanao. It exports to more than 50 countries in Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and South America as a ?private label manufacturer? of canned tuna?processing and canning tuna in institutional and retail can sizes using its customers? brands.

To enhance margins, it also processes the by-products and scraps from its tuna-processing operations into fishmeal, which it sells to Philippine feed millers. It also has a 40-percent stake in FDCP Inc., a local can-making company, which ensures the availability of quality cans at competitive prices and sustainable supply.

Within the next five years, Alliance Tuna aspires to evolve into a regional food company with a ?decidedly Filipino DNA.? The company is on the lookout for opportunities in regional seafood companies with high margins and high-value products. It has six offices and plants and 3,000 employees around the world.

In 2008, Alliance Tuna organized a joint venture together with P.T. Wailan Pratama and invested in P.T. International Alliance Food Indonesia to acquire the assets of a tuna cannery in Bitung, on the island of North Sulawesi. A complete renovation was undertaken to upgrade its capacity to 60 metric tons (MT) a day. Doris C. Dumlao