Madrid, June 17 - SOS Cuetara, the world's leading olive oil maker, said on Wednesday that Credit Suisse was advising it on potential investors interested in buying a stake but that its board had yet to study any offer.
The statement followed a letter published in El Economista from U.S. fund Overture Acquisition Corporation saying it wanted to invest 200 million euros ($278 million) in the Spanish food group.
Credit Suisse is already advising SOS Cuetara on its financial restructuring and plans for a 200 million euro cash call after dealings by its former executives left a financial hole in the company.
"Interest by potential investors to take part in the company's capital is being channelled through the same investment bank," SOS Cuetara said.
"Until now the board had not studied any of the proposals by potential investors to take a stake in the company," it said.
El Economista said the chairman of Overture, a company launched two years ago with funds from JP Morgan and Lazard to target acquisitions, met SOS chairman Mariano Perez Clavel on June 5 to discuss a deal.
The 200 million euro investment, representing 40 percent of SOS's stock market value, would be carried out via the acquisition of preferred stock, a share swap and the acquisition of debt, or the purchase of a stake in SOS's U.S. rice arm, Newco Rice.
But BPI analysts said options offered by Overture would not alleviate SOS's debt burden because they implied no cash injection and would ultimately be below the 200 million euros the company hoped to gain from a new share issue.
At 0942 GMT, SOS shares were up 11.3 percent at 3.9 euros, recovering from a broad sell-off since negative news on the company's finances first emerged in April.