Many of Undercurrent News’ major scoops on seafood mergers and acquisitions (M&A) from last year are on story trends that will run into 2025.

Last year was a dynamic one for seafood M&A, with ACON Investments, Captain Fresh, Cooke and Pacific Seafood Group all getting big deals over the line by the end.

However, other big, planned sales, such as US at-sea pollock processor American Seafoods Group (ASG), European seabass and seabream farmer Avramar Seafood, or EU salmon processor Milarex, are on ice or in the works as 2025 gets underway.

As the year closed, UK private equity CapVest Partners’ foray into US smoked salmon production was also on hold.

Then, other major stories — such as the consolidation fest in processing in the US state of Alaska or Japanese seafood companies looking to global M&A — look set to accelerate in 2025.

Below, Undercurrent has highlighted several M&A scoops or story trends that will continue to make waves in 2025. Look out for the second part of this story shortly.

Can Bregal find a $1bn-plus buyer for American Seafoods in 2025?

Bregal Partners, the controlling shareholder in ASG, the largest at-sea pollock processor, halted yet another sale process mid-year as offers reportedly fell below $1 billion.

The cause of the drop in valuation, which saw Bregal and US investor Beach Point Capital Management end talks, was the weakness in pollock fillet and surimi prices in 2024. There are already signs that fillet prices are rising, and surimi has hit the bottom, which could bode well for a Bregal exit from ASG in 2025.

Meanwhile, as first reported by Undercurrent in December 2024, former CEO Einar Gustafsson is mounting a bid for ASG. According to sources,

Gustafsson plans to involve several other parties in his bid, with one reportedly an Alaskan community development quota group, Coastal Villages Regional Fund (CVRF).

A spokesperson for CVRF told Undercurrent it’s not involved in “active negotiations” for ASG but is interested in getting bigger in pollock. Gustafsson has not responded to requests for comment. Watch this space in 2025.

What next for Acon after finally closing Atlantic Capes deal?

After Undercurrent first reported a formal sale process for US clam and scallop giant Atlantic Capes Fisheries back in 2021, a deal finally closed at the end of last year from US investment firm Acon.

Undercurrent was the first to reveal Acon had netted the downstream part of AtlanticCapes with its AtlanticSustainable Catch (ASC)platform. ASC consists of Northern Wind, a large US scallop processor, and two Canadian lobster firms, Suncoast Seafood and Raymond O’Neill & Son Fisheries.

With US scallop supply low in 2024 and set to drop further in 2025, all eyes in the sector will be on what Acon does with Northern Wind and Atlantic Capes.

Captain Fresh aims for 2025 IPO after CenSea, Koral buyouts

Highly prolific Antarctica Advisors worked on the sell side of AtlanticCapes for the Cohen family, having also been involved in two dealsinvolving India’s Captain Fresh in 2024, for Koral and Central SeawayCompany (CenSea). Undercurrent covered both deals from sale process to close.

Utham Gowda, founder and CEO of Captain Fresh, gave Undercurrent some insight into his future M&A and business development plans in an exclusive interview in August 2024.

Gowda spoke of going into US salmon processing, having closed its deal for Polishsmoker Koral at the tail-end of 2024. Undercurrent first reported the agreement in July, having revealed Captain Fresh was in talks to buy the salmon smoker at the end of 2023.

Then, it seems an initial public offering (IPO) will also be on the cards in 2025. Gowda is reportedly eyeing a valuation of as much as $ 1.5bn for the IPO. He first told Undercurrent of the IPO plan in March 2024, during the annual Seafood Expo North America (SENA) show in Boston, Massachusetts.

SENA was a milestone for Captain Fresh, as Gowda had just closed the long-awaited deal for CenSea, a frozen shrimp importer based near Chicago, Illinois, at the end of February. In June2023, Undercurrent
First reported that the Feigon family, who built up CenSea, was eyeing a sale, with Antarctica recruited to run the process. Then, also in June,
Undercurrent first reported that Captain Fresh was looking at CenSea.

In early 2024, Undercurrent also revealed that Captain Fresh had quietly entered the European shrimp sector in 2023 with a deal forSenecrus, a 40-year-old, Paris-based shrimp cooker and distributor.

Alaska M&A: Silver Bay on offensive, Peter Pan collapse, Trident fire sale

The forced consolidation in the Alaska processing sector looks set to continue in 2025 after a frenetic 2024. On Nov. 20, 2024, Undercurrent reported that Silver Bay was in talks to take control of OBI Seafoods’ 10 plants and buying stations in the US state.

The planned deal from Silver Bay, which sources said is in the works for 2025, came at the end of a frenetic year of forced M&A in the state. Silver Bay, owned by a group of Alaska fishermen, took control of Peter Pan Seafood, which spectacularly imploded in the year.

At the end of 2024, Pacific Seafood Group also closed a big move in Alaska, buying Trident Seafoods’ large plant in Kodiak.

The Trident-Pacific Kodiak deal was one of four the Seattle, Washington-based giant did in 2024 in a dramatic fire sale — after offloading facilities in False Pass, Petersburg, and Ketchikan.

Silver Bay bought the Ketchikan plant with E.C. Phillips & Son taking Petersburg. The Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association, known as APICDA, partnered with Silver Bay on the deal for the former Trident False Pass plant. Undercurrent first reported APICDA’s involvement in the deal earlier in the year.

European bass, bream giant to be sold in Q1

A major piece of European M&A is set to close in Q1 of 2025, whichwill bring a new investor into the seabass and seabream sector.

The United Arab Emirates-based firm Aqua Bridge Group is in advanced negotiations to acquire distressed aquaculture company Avramar’s Greekassets, though a deal has yet to be finalized, sources familiar with the process told Undercurrent on Dec. 17.

Negotiations seem to point toward Aqua Bridge buying all of Avramar’s Greek assets, including fish farms, operating licenses, and plants. The Spanish assets would remain under the control of Avramar’s current main shareholder, AMERRA Capital Management.

In October, Undercurrent reported that Abu Dhabi’s MubadalaInvestment Company, previously Avramar’s second major investor, exited its equity stake, selling its shares to Amerra.
Undercurrent covered the sale process, run by Deloitte, from the start.

Also, in 2024, Turkey’s Kilic Holding formally announced the acquisition of Agromey, one of the country’s largest producers of bassand bream.
Undercurrent first reported the prospect of a deal — whichwill take Kilic to around $500m — in 2023.

Where will Cooke look next on M&A after bumper fishmeal buyout?

Canadian seafood giant Cooke had a quiet 2023 and 2024 on M&Auntil the end of November, when it closed the buyout of CorporacionPesquera Inca (Copeinca), one of Peru’s largest fishmeal and fish oil companies.

Undercurrent first reported Cooke was in the running forCopeinca back in July, with Dutch seafood giant Parlevliet& Van der Plas also in the hunt at the time.

Cooke will likely look”everywhere” at more M&A in2025 but will also take some time to digest Copeinca, sources said. In 2023, Cooke only made one deal, Slade Gorton & Co. The year before, Cooke moved into Australian salmon farming, snapping up Tassal Group.

 

SOURCE: Undercurrent News

Camanchaca and Grupo Bio Bio sought arbitration to resolve a disagreement relating to the sale of a 30 percent stake in Camanchaca’s Pesca Sur pelagic division.

Chilean seafood giant Camanchaca will have to pay $87.2 million (€80.5 million) to acquire the 30 percent stake in its PescaSur fisheries division it doesn’t already own.

Camanchaca and Grupo Bio Bio sought arbitration to resolve a disagreement relating to the sale of a 30 percent stake in Camanchaca’s Pesca Sur pelagic division.

Camanchaca currently owns 70 percent of Pesca Sur and Bio Bio 30 percent.

Under an agreement, Camanchaca is obliged to acquire Bio Bio’s full stake should it opt to sell. In mid-September, Bio Bio informed Camanchaca of its intention to do so.

Bio Bio will receive payment via dividends distributed through Camanchaca Pesca Sur.

Two unnamed investment banks working as arbitrators, delivered an average valuation of $290.75 million (€268.4 million) for PescaSur as a whole, Camanchaca said in a note to the Santiago Stock Exchange.

The companies themselves put widely differing vales on Pesca Sur, with Bio Bio valuing the division at $93.2 million (€90.2 million) and Camanchaca offering $48 million (€46.5 million).

Under the terms of the agreement with valuations varying by more than 10 percent, the sale price would have to be adjudicated by an investment bank or a mutually agreeable expert.

The Camanchaca Pesca Sur Division boasts a fleet of five deep-sea purse seine vessels and four crustacean fishing vessels. It also operates four separate canning, frozen products, crustaceans and fishmeal and fish oil processing plants.

Camanchaca CEO Ricardo Garcia told attendees at the North Atlantic Seafood Forum in March that the acquisition will be the largest by the company “in years, “bringing the profitable and growing division fully under its control.

Camanchaca Pesca Sur was established as a joint venture between Camanchaca and Chile’s Stengel family in 2011. The division harvests and processes primarily jack mackerel, sardines and anchovies. Camanchaca Pesca Sur primarily serves the African market.

Miami-based Antarctica Advisors advised the sellers on the transaction.

 

SOURCE: Intrafish

 

With the acquisition of Copeinca, Cooke surpasses Tasato become the world’s largest producer of fishmeal and fish oil, according to Undercurrent News sources

Canadian seafood giant Cooke’s near-$1 billion acquisition of Peru’sCopeinca, announced on Thursday (Nov. 7), as reported by Undercurrent News, marks a significant shift in the global fishing industry.

The acquisition cements Cooke’s position as the world’s largest producer of fishmeal and fish oil, positioning it as a key supplier for aquaculture and global feed producers, overtaking Peru’s largest fishmeal producer, Tasa, several industry executives tell Undercurrent. Cooke also owns Omega Protein Corporation in the US.

In a telephone interview Friday (Nov. 8), Ignacio Kleiman, managing partner of Antarctica Advisors, a Miami, Florida-based financial advisory firm specializing in the seafood sector, emphasized this acquisition’s “strategic” importance. It connects “the northern hemisphere producer with the southern hemisphere producer,” he said.

Antarctica Advisors and Deutsche Bank are handling the Copeinca sale on behalf of the investment firms Davidson Kempner Capital Management and Monarch Alternative Capital, which took control of Copeinca’s then-parent CFG Investment in 2021. CFG was formerly part of the Hong Kong-based Ng family’s now-defunct Pacific Andes group empire, which began bankruptcy protection proceedings in 2016.

The magnitude of the deal can’t be overstated.

Copeinca, established in 1994, has grown to become Peru’s largest fishing company, with 2,770 employees, 45 vessels and eight processing plants spanning Peru’s north and center coastline. It holds the largest anchovy quota in Peru at 15.9% and processes approximately 21% of the country’s total catch for annual production of roughly 200,000 metric tons of fishmeal and 23,000t of fish oil, according to Cooke.

Meanwhile, Peru’s second anchovy season is underway. Between Nov.1 and Nov. 7, the fishing sector has already caught 248,199t, equivalent to 10% of the vast quota set by the country’s production ministry in late October, according to Undercurrent sources.

Meanwhile, the integration across hemispheres won’t just be geographic. It also provides stability to Copeinca, which has faced years of financial uncertainty, Kleiman said.

“This gives Copeinca a very bright future in the hands of Cooke,” he said. “It’s a great company with excellent management, and Cooke will ensure it has a stable and promising path forward.”

Cooke’s acquisition marks a significant leap in vertical integration for Cooke, Kleiman said. It allows the company to hedge fishmeal and fish oil prices, which are critical feed ingredients in its aquaculture operations.

“If you’re on both sides of the equation regarding fish feed pricing, you manage to stabilize your margins, creating a more resilient business model,” he noted.

By controlling an extensive supply chain share, Cooke can buffer price volatility, which benefits its financial stability in the aquaculture market.

A potential catalyst for change

Kleiman also highlighted that this acquisition could prompt broader changes within the Peruvian fishing sector, noting that the deal is”great for the industry as a whole.”

Copeinca’s entry into Cooke’s operations might attract additional strategic investors looking to consolidate or partner with local players, many of which have long sought foreign investment without success, he said.

“Some of Peru’s leading fishmeal companies have been open to deals for over a decade,” he noted without naming any firm in particular.

Cooke’s entry might spur other global players to follow suit, Kleiman said. The acquisition could set a precedent for foreign-led consolidation, reshaping Peru’s fishing industry by bringing in more external capital and expertise. Such developments could offer the Peruvian sector an opportunity for modernization.

“The announced acquisition by Cooke of Copeinca means a lot for the Peruvian industry and the country, in addition to what it means for the company itself,” agreed Peruvian fishing expert Pablo Trapunsky, former CEO of another fishmeal producer, Pesquera Diamante.

“After more than 10 years of the CFG take over [of] Copeinca by a hostile offer at the Oslo Stock Exchange, we finally reach the last chapter of this history. The Canadian seafood company Cooke steps into the Peruvian Fishing industry and will indeed change the whole game since the group also controls Omega Protein in the US, which also produces fishmeal and fish oil, same as Copeinca,” Trapunskywrote on LinkedIn.

Trapunsky also believes that this deal will “definitely change” the industry.

“Cooke is acquiring roughly 21-22% of the Peruvian fishmeal and oil production. But Peru accounts for roughly 25% of world production. So, it means about 5-6% of world production, and you have to add the products produced in the US by Omega Protein. That’s huge,” he wrote.

“And for the industry, it will mean regaining value as the products become more and more relevant, especially crude fish oil. We saw last year what happened there due to El Nino. We just wish all the best to Cooke on this adventure and also to all Copeinca’s workers, who can now focus 100% on their performance.”

El Nino’s minimal impact on deal viability

Peru’s anchovy harvest has been impacted by weather fluctuations over the last year, which caused the cancellation of the first anchovy season in 2023, but Kleiman downplayed the effect of recent El Nino events on this transaction.

“When El Nino hits, the fish don’t die: They move away,” he said.

This year’s anchovy season, which started strong after last year’s downturn, was a reminder of the industry’s resilience and ability to recover quickly, Kleiman said.

In his view, the Cooke team skillfully navigated the complexities of the Copeinca acquisition, dealing with financial and structural challenges that made the deal more intricate.

He declined to give Undercurrent additional details or discuss the agreed upon price. He only commented that “it was a very complex deal,” crediting Cooke’s diligence and Copeinca’s strong management.

 

SOURCE: Undercurrent News

Global economic upheaval has not put a dampener on seafood industry consolidation this year.

The seafood processing, aquaculture, fisheries and aquatech sectors have shown a surprising amount of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity so far in 2024, reflecting both investor enthusiasm and the ongoing need for consolidation.

Deals slowed in 2023 from the year prior. An IntraFish tally showed 77 acquisitions, mergers and significant investment stakes in 2023 — a 7 percent decline over 2022. However, based on the pace so far in 2024, it is conceivable that this year will reach that level, if not higher.

IntraFish on reported over 60 mergers, acquisitions or substantial stake sales through the first nine months of the year.

Ignacio Kleiman, principal at Antarctica Advisors, a boutique seafood advisory group, told IntraFish that this year shows the appetite for some industry players to continue much-needed consolidation on the processing and distribution side in particular.

“It’s been a year of consolidation,” he said. “It’s been a year with larger deals that were more prominent, as opposed to a whole bunch of small deals last year.”

Kleiman noted that some of the larger players with “more imagination” took advantage of supply chain inefficiencies. Japanese giants were among the deal-makers this year, as were Canadian group Cooke, Norwegian firms SalMar, Nergard and Pelagia, and biopharma behemoth MSD.

Kleiman said the recent rate cut by the US Federal Reserve, though it may not have an immediate impact, is building confidence among owners that may have been reluctant to start discussions.

The fourth quarter is also a notorious period for inking deals, so it’s inevitable that the industry will see more come through, according to Kleiman. Though he expects to see consolidation in processing and distribution in particular, the fragmentation across the industry means there are many more deals to come across the entire value chain.

“There has to be more integration and more consolidation…just because that’s a way of capturing more margin and generating a substantial level of synergies,” Kleiman said.

One sector that should be more acquisitive than it has been, given its size and strength, is the Norwegian salmon farming sector, he said.

“They continue to do exactly the same thing they were doing 10 years ago, as opposed to looking for a way of diversifying into other species.”

Anne Hvistendahl, global head of seafood at DNB, the world’s largest lender to the seafood industry, said the Norwegian salmon industry has plenty of consolidation to tackle in its own backyard, with around 80 salmon farmers in Norway.

“Things will happen, and we have mandates in that direction,” Hvistendahl told IntraFish. “You have generational change, so over time there will be fewer players in Norway and in Chile.”
Both in Norway and across borders, the industry can expect to see more deals come to fruition in the salmon sector, but if owners are happy with their operations, it’s difficult to convince them to think about consolidation, Hvistendahl said.

Dag Sletmo, senior advisor for DNB Seafood, put it bluntly: “Everybody wants to buy, and nobody wants to sell.”

Listen to our full conversation with Kleiman on the most recent episode of the IntraFish Podcast, and follow us on Apple and Spotify to hear our upcoming\ conversation with Hvistendahl and Sletmo.

Listen the PODCAST here.