Norway’s Ocean Harvest, which owns Argentine fishing firm Estremar, is looking for an investor ‘partner’ to help finance M&A in new species, seeing an opening in the Latin American country after the upcoming election.

The company is looking to raise around $70 million from selling a minority stake of up to 49%, chairman Webjorn Eikrem toldUndercurrent News.

“We are looking at industrial partners with good financial strength so that we can do financing together on [M&A]projects in Argentina,” he said.”We would be willing to go to 50/50; it depends on the partner if we find a partner we trust. We are not very complicated people. So, if I could look them in the eye and say this is what we do together jointly. We can live with 50/50.”

DNB, Norway’s largest bank, and Antarctica Advisors, a seafood-focused corporate finance boutique based in the US, have been retained to run the process. The two firms have “different customer bases,” hence the joint engagement, said Eikrem.

“I have told both AA [Antarctica] and DNB they have until the end of the year, and if we don’t get a partner, we will leave it as it is. We should be able to grow the company anyway, but it will take longer,”he said.

Ocean Harvest’s Estremar is active in hoki, toothfish and southern blue whiting but aims to move into other species through M&A.

“I think the main growth avenue is going be other species. There’s no wish for us to increase in toothfish; the cap is there,” he said.

Estremar has 1,400 metric tons of quota for the prized Patagonian toothfish, as well as 10,213t for hoki and 1,862 for southern blue whiting, which it’s currently refitting the Centurion del Atlantico factory trawler to turn into surimi. The company has then acquired another vessel to catch its toothfish quota.

Argentine shrimp is the “obvious” species for expansion. “Then, squid and scallops. If we secure a partner, we can move fast; if we don’t, it will take some time,” he said.

The company is also looking beyond its fishing routes for growth. “If a partner comes along with land-based processing experience, that will be an option,” Eikrem told Undercurrent.

Eikrem, Norwegian but has been working in Argentina since the early 1990s, said he sees openings in the country after the upcoming election.

“I’ve been around in Argentina a long time; I have been there since 1992. I was there in ’92 on board the ship when it first arrived, so I know you’re not coming in and out of Argentina within two years, thinking you will make money. You need to be long-term,” he said.

“Our reasoning for this is that we believe there will be opportunities in Argentina after the election. We strongly believe that the election will be on the right side so that we can have a more business-friendly approach. Maybe not the first year, but there will be openings in the next three to four years, “he said.

Javier Milei, a right-wing populist and ultraliberal economist, is currently leading the polls in Argentina. One of his policies is to dollarize the economy, which has caused the peso to dive in value. The election will take place on Oct. 22.

“It’s tough for banks to finance anything in Argentina due to the restrictions and other things,” he said. “And certainly, we need a strong partner on the outside to be able to pull off acquisitions. So that is the reasoning; there’s nothing dramatic about it. We want to secure ourselves with the correct partner with the same outlook on things as we do.”

Then, it’s conditional to keep Estremar as the operating company, he said. “We think we have excellent management there led by Alan Mackern, and we want to build on that. That is one of the strict requirements we will have with a partner: that we will have Estremar managing the joint venture.”

Centurion del Atlantico surimi refit

The share sale move comes as Ocean Harvest is in the middle of a$40m refit of Estremar’s Centurion del Atlantico factory trawler in Norway for surimi production. The vessel’s refit is “fully financed” and has nothing to do with the fundraising, said Eikrem.

“We’re putting in all kinds of newer technology that exists today. We will produce high-quality surimi when we return to Argentina in May-June next year.”

The 118-meter Centurion delAtlantico was built in 1986 by Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. for surimi production, then sent down to Argentina in 1992-93. “I worked on the Centurion in ’92 as a fish master,” said Eikrem.

Ocean Harvest has also acquired another vessel, the 63-meter SanArawa II, which it has converted to harvest toothfish, which Centuriondel Atlantico was previously doing. In 2019, Estremar inked a deal to manage San Arawa’s vessels.

“Estremar had management on San Arawa in the last couple of years, but the vessel was doing hoki fillets. So, we know it very well. We think it’s better suited for the toothfish fishery than Centurion was,” he said. “On the Centurion, we have rebuilt everything, from the main engine to the propeller shafts, a fishmeal factory. She will be a great surimi producer and San Arawa II a perfect vessel for toothfish.”

He said that when Centurion del Atlantico is operating again next year, Estremar should have gross revenue of about $70m.

There’s also the opening to add to its hoki/southern blue whiting quotas.

“We used to have a bigger quota on the Centurion, but we have not been participating in the fishery, as we have been doing toothfish since 2014. There’s a lot of quota available in Argentina that isn’t being fished, and not many companies are going for southern blue whiting and hoki. We think we can operate the vessel for eight to nine months a year,” he said.

Undercurrent reported that surimi prices have crashed, with a 50% reduction on last year.

“We follow the reduction in surimi prices now, partly due to the price itself and partly the exchange rates in yen and dollars. It’s over a year until our product hits the market; it will be a different market then, and we have heard from producers the prices will recover. But, who knows, you never know what will happen in a year in this world,” said Eikrem.

 

Source: Undercurrent News.

The corporate finance boutique’s Ignacio Kleiman said further consolidation is coming due to rising inflation and interest rates resulting in decreased consumption and increasing costs.

VIGO, Spain — With soaring inflation and higher interest rates, this food industry finds itself at a crossroads. In this turbulent market scenario, consumption in Europe, the US and other parts of the world has decreased while costs for producers and processors are climbing.

This “perfect storm” poses significant challenges to seafood businesses worldwide, potentially catalyzing a wave of consolidation within the industry; Ignacio Kleiman, managing partner of corporate finance boutique Antarctica Advisors, told Undercurrent News further consolidation was “inevitable.”

He explained that this consolidation arises from two key factors: the pressing need for companies to recapitalize due to excessive debt and the imperative to protect profit margins.

At the Conxemar seafood show, industry sources spoke about companies — either owned by private equity funds or family-owned –exploring the possibility of a sale.

Kleiman noted that companies that bought goods or services in dollars and sold them in euros faced increased costs that could significantly impact their expenses, making it difficult to pass inflated costs to customers in euros. He said this dilemma arises because the competitive economic landscape often restricts a company’s ability to raise prices without risking profitability.

“Companies burdened by high levels of debt are left with little choice but to seek capitalization, and others must consolidate to safeguard their profitability,” he told Undercurrent on the side of the Conxemarseafood exhibition last week.

Kleiman, who is based in Miami, US, stressed the impact of the high cost of capital in today’s financial landscape. He noted that the cost of money is currently elevated, leading to a shift in investment strategies among major players in the industry.

Unlike when “cheap money” has prompted spending, the present environment necessitates a “more selective” approach to investments. Kleiman believes that companies will carefully evaluate where they allocate their funds, considering the expensive nature of capital.

that thrived due to the availability of cheap capital. Thus, some have built significant inventories and engaged in distribution and trading but face higher costs in today’s financial climate.

Antarctica Advisors, based in Miami, plans to open an office in Europe soon to support clients in the region better. The boutique firm advised Peru’s Oceano Corp. earlier this year in the purchase of Sea FreshUSA.

Before the summer, talks for the purchase of seafood group NuevaPescanova by Canadian giant Cooke were put on hold due to the financial pressure experienced by the Spanish company. On Sept. 6, Pescanova formally communicated its intention to initiate a redundancy plan, known in Spain as Expediente de Regulacion deEmpleo, for as many as 100 staff. In 2022, the harder market situation encountered by the Spanish firm also halted the negotiations the group had previously held for the purchase of Argentinian fishing company Pesquera Veraz. Talks for a deal are yet to resume, although Cooke remains interested.

Meanwhile, Spain’s Grupo Iberica de Congelados (Iberconsa), owned by US fund Platinum Equity since March 2019, is soon to launch a refinancing plan for its considerable debt pile. Iberconsa was previously linked to Pescanova earlier in the process.

Atunlo, another prominent player in the Spanish tuna industry, has also reported a significant decline in sales during the last quarter, which has led to a cash flow issue the company aims to resolve in the coming weeks.

Another of Spain’s largest seafood processors, Fandicosta, has recently also been hit by cash flow issues. Its owner and president, AngelMartinez Varela, said he would be selling his firm to resolve those issues but then reportedly changed his plans for the sale and is looking for financial support from the Galician board (Xunta de Galicia) and banks.

Latin America

Kleiman told Undercurrent the Latin American seafood industry is encountering a period of “unprecedented uncertainty” as political transitions in key nations create a challenging environment for businesses.

“Argentina, amid ongoing elections and substantial economic changes, is battling uncertainty spurred by drastic shifts and devaluation,” he observed.

“Chile, once celebrated for its stability, now grapples with political unrest due to proposed legal and regulatory changes, making it arduous for businesses to devise long-term investment strategies. Peru is dealing with the ongoing El Nino phenomenon, intensifying pressure on local companies,” he also said.

Meanwhile, “previously stable and operationally growing” Ecuador is entangled in political turmoil and rising insecurity, with imminent elections looming.

“The consequence of this political upheaval has created a dilemma for companies with strong financial capabilities. Faced with unpredictable local conditions, many businesses are turning their gaze abroad,” he told Undercurrent.

Thus, companies from Chile, Peru, or Ecuador are now seriously considering establishing footholds in the US or Europe.

“This shift is anticipated to significantly decelerate domestic investments, marking a fundamental change in the industry landscape, “he shared.

Kleiman’s observations also underscored another trend, with significant players showing reduced interest in the Latin American sector despite its vast potential.

“While sporadic large transactions occur, these investments representonly a fraction of the industry. They serve more as strategic maneuversthan substantial involvements,” he concluded.

He foresees an acceleration of consolidation within the seafood industry. While the cost of capital may restrict some investment activities, it also presents opportunities for those seeking strategic acquisitions or partnerships.

 

Source: Undercurrent News

A Peruvian seafood group with an annual turnover of more than $400m has inked a deal for one of the major players in the US squid sector
A Peruvian seafood group with an annual turnover of more than $400 million has acquired one of the most prominent players in the US squid sector, sources told Undercurrent News. Peru’s Oceano Corp., which snapped up Spanish cephalopod supplier Pesfasa from bankruptcy earlier this year, has acquired Rhode Island-based Sea Fresh U.S.A., sources said.

Sea Fresh owns and operates its vessels and an unloading dock in Galilee, a fishing village on Point Judith within the town of Narragansett, on the southern end of the state. It also owns a British Retail Consortium-approved processing plant in nearby North Kingstown, according to the company website.

Read more

‘Everything everywhere all at once’ is not just the name of the movie that won best picture recently. It’s also an accurate description of last week’s Boston seafood show

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of articles summarizing the recent Seafood Expo North America, otherwise known as the Boston seafood show. Tom Seaman, Louis Harkell, Matilde Mereghetti, NickSambides and Matthew Craze contributed reporting to this article.

“Everything everywhere all at once” is not just the name of the movie that won best picture recently at the 2022 Academy Awards. It’s also an accurate description of last week’s Boston seafood show, especially the incredible flurry of mergers and acquisition (M&A) activity.

No less than six major deals got announced during, just before or after the three-day event, March 12-14. Fortune International confirmed that it has agreed to acquire Boston Sword & Tuna (BST), for example, adding close to $300 million in sales to the Chicago, Illinois-based seafood import, processing and wholesale giant, taking it to over $ 1 billion in annual revenue.

Birgir Brynjolfsson, a partner at Antarctica Advisors, a Miami, Florida-based M&A consulting firm that represented BST in its sale process, counts several reasons for the M&A flood in and around the Boston seafood show.

“Several transactions were postponed in the second half of 2022 and, since the start of 2023, M&A activity has been picking up considerably,” he toldUndercurrent News in a recent email exchange.

“The Boston show this year was the first show since 2019 where people could prepare well in advance for the show, and the reason you had so many announcements come out this year is likely because people involved wanted to be able to share the news with their customers and suppliers in person,” he added.

The number of deals around Boston was “unusual”, Brynjolfssonacknowledged. He said that “despite higher financing costs and price volatility”, there is a need for both consolidation and succession in the seafood industry.

“There is also the belief that taxes in the US may increase in the near future,” he said. “Tax increases are bad for business owners that want to sell because they can both negatively impact valuations and leave the seller with lower after-tax proceeds. Many business owners are therefore considering accelerating their plans to sell before the window closes.”

China returned in force

The 41st edition of the Boston seafood show, more properly known asSeafood Expo North America (SENA), is over, but the six reportersUndercurrent sent to full-court press the event are still digesting what they heard and looking to provide even more coverage in coming days. This series of articles hopefully will give you a good sense of the most important things our team heard.

DiversifiedCommunications, thePortland, Maine-based company that organizes the three-day event every year, reported having 1,141 exhibitors from 49 countries between both SENAand Seafood ProcessingNorth America, a conference that it runs in conjunction with the main event at the Boston Convention Center. This year the overall exhibit space was expanded to 237,665 square feet, 31% more than in 2022.

The two events included new exhibitors from a multitude of countries, including Bahrain, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Madagascar, Mauritius, Morocco, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Poland and Tunisia.

One of the biggest showings in Boston came from China, which sent 96 exhibitors to the event this year after not showing up last year due heavily to COVID-related travel restrictions. Of course, it was nowhere close to the 527 exhibitors in Boston from the US, though it was close to the 98 that came from Canada.

The 2019 edition of the Boston seafood show remains the largest in the event’s four-decade history, having included 1,359 exhibitors overall. Several attendees told Undercurrent that this year’s show was among the biggest and most active they’ve ever experienced. Recall that the 2020 and 2021 expos were canceled due to pandemic concerns, and the 2022 show was considerably tamer, with only about 830 exhibitors, as reported by Undercurrent at the time.

Darrell Roche, senior vice president at Whitecap International SeafoodExporters, a Saint John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador-based distributor of Canadian seafood, said his booth at the 2023 show was the busiest its been in its 20 years of presence at the event.

“There was a big turnout due to the void left for customers and suppliers during COVID,” he toldUndercurrent. “Given inflation and the tougher markets in certain species, the Boston seafood show[was] the perfect venue for all stakeholders to be in one place together.”

Steve Harmell, the owner of Green Zone Seafood, a wholesaler based in Pembroke Pines, Florida, said he’s been going to the Boston show for four decades, and the crowd at the 2023 event was among the largest he’s ever seen there.

Several attendees have told Undercurrent in the past that Boston is where prospective seafood sales contacts are made before deals are closed during Seafood Expo Global, an even bigger event in Barcelona, Spain, April 25-27, this year. But Harmell disagreed, saying Boston often serves as the finish line in sales, and he’s had many contracts signed there.

Also, it’s a great place for companies to showcase new products, he said.

“The importance of this show is, without a doubt, to see and be with the folks that you’ve come to know over the years and share thoughts, ideas, successes, failures, and meet new people that you can do business with going forward,” he said. “I’ve seen companies grow the size of their exhibits to attract more attention, and I’ve seen new products shown that have gone on to be stable items in retail and food service.”

Succession planning a common trend

The M&A deals announced in and around Boston represented a wide variety of transaction types, from wholesalers looking to gain more regional territory to processors adding species to their product mixes. But Brynjolfsson noticed one thing that many of the deals had in common.

“Succession planning seems to be the common trend in most transactions announced recently and we expect to see that trend continue,” he told Undercurrent, adding a prediction for the future: “Cross-border transaction activity slowed down during the pandemic, so it would not be a surprise if we start seeing more cross-border transactions in 2023.”

In fact, what happened in Boston could be just the tip of an M&Aiceberg due to a worsening economic environment and rising borrowing costs, suggested Jason Brantley, senior vice president at Bank of America, and John Doucette, executive vice president and head of commercial banking at M&T Bank, during a presentation mid-March 14 at the Boston show, as reported by Undercurrent.

Many family-owned companies have a leadership continuity problem because of second and third-generation owners who are either ill-equipped or don’t want to run a seafood company, Doucette said. Some have had assets up for sale for several years but have held out for attractive valuations; they may have missed the window as worsening conditions force sales.

“Deals that were available a few years ago are some of the same deals that are out there now, but the rising rate environment is going to force some of the companies to sell, or they are going to have to consider bringing in partners,” Brantley said. “There is a valuation gap.”

A tick-tock recap of the deals

The torrent of M&A activity happened so fast last week that it was hard to keep up. It actually started on March 11 — the day before the Boston seafood show — when Carson, California-based SouthwindFoods, an importer and processor, confirmed that it had inked a deal to acquire Caito Fisheries, a processor with four locations on the sameWest Coast US state, as reported by Undercurrent.

Southwind president Sam Galletti told Undercurrent that it was his plan to double or even triple Caito’s output, providing it with, among other things, stronger financing to buy more of its key species, including Dungeness crab, salmon, black cod, halibut and rockfish, in addition to Dover and Petrale sole.

In addition to announcing the deal, Southwind, which trades as GreatAmerican Seafood Import Co., revealed plans to build a 40,000-square-foot processing, storage and distribution facility in Salt Lake City, Utah, and a 60,000sf cold storage facility in Vernon, California.

A second deal got announced in Boston the next day, on March 12, when Peter PanSeafood, a processor based in the US state of Alaska, revealed that it signed a letter of intent for an asset purchase ofTrapper’s Creek Smoking Co., a smoked salmon producer. The deal includes a smokehouse facility in Anchorage, Alaska, and its brands: Copper River Smoking Company, Alaska’s Best, Trapper’s Creek and Eat Like a Grizzly.

Peter Pan’s turnover has increased by a multiple of about three to nearly $400m since Rodger May and two US investment firms acquired the company from Japan’s Maruha Nichiro, the largest seafood company in the world, in early 2021, May told Undercurrent in Boston.

Peter Pan canceled its booth for SENA 2022 as concerns grew around the omicron COVID-19 strain. So, this year was the first time the company had a booth as a standalone entity.

“It’s been a coming out party for the new Peter Pan. I’ve been flat out all day, than having two dinners each night,” May said, adding that the response has been “amazing”.

On March 13, $1bn-turnover Ecuadorian shrimp supplier Omarsakept the M&A partygoing by announcing that it had snapped up Altrix de Panama, a plant in Aguasdulcesthat the acquiring company said it plans to upgrade to “Ecuadorian standard”. That includes installing equipment to produce individual quick frozen (IQF)head-on shrimp and peeled IQF shrimp.

Omarsa also plans to expand its vannamei shrimp farming operations in Panama, having acquired 1,200 hectares a few years earlier.

Also, on March 13, Sealaska, an Alaska-native corporation and the US parent of UK-based processor New England Seafood International(NESI), announced that it has grabbed a majority stake in Normarine, a Norwegian cod and haddock supplier. The deal gives NESI closer access to Norwegian whitefish raw material than it already has with Iceland.

The mother of all M&A deals in relation to Boston, of course, was the one announced by private equity-backed Fortune on March 13. That was the acquisition of BST, the prospects for which were first reported by Undercurrent on Feb. 8. The deal is expected to close in the next 60 days, based on a press release from Fortune.

sale in food service and retail. The company also has a salmon burger program, according to its website.

Then, on March 14, $2.5bn-turnover Canadian seafood giant Cookeannounced another blockbuster, revealing that it had entered into a”binding purchase agreement” to acquire Slade Gorton & Co., a prominent US processor based in Waltham, Massachusetts, close to Boston, as reported by Undercurrent.

The M&A news kept coming after the Boston seafood show was over, too, on March 16, when the Madrid, Spain-based news service ElConfidencial reported that acquisitive US-based seafood conglomerate Red Chamber Group had joined Cooke in entering negotiations to acquire a majority stake in Spain’s Nueva Pescanova from ABANCACorporacion Bancaria, the lender that owns a 97% stake in the company. The bank has reportedly offered both companies a flexible financing structure that allows them to plan a complete takeover of the fishing and aquaculture giant.

Red Chamber, Zhenye grew organically, too

Of course, not all of the recent expansion in seafood has been by acquisition. Red Chamber corporate communications manager Valentina Bragagnolo also revealed at the Boston show that her company has commissioned two new fishing vessels to grow its shrimp volumes in Argentina.

Another company looking to expand organically is Chinese tilapia processor Hainan Qinf, which told Undercurrent in Boston that it expects to complete a new CNY 500m ($72.4m) factory by 2025. The plant, which will process up to 500 metric tons of tilapia daily, will replace Qinfu’s existing factory near Wenchang, which processes and exports mainly tilapia fillets for North America and Europe.

The facility will produce more value-added convenience products, like pickled tilapia, grilled tilapia and tilapia bites, mainly for the Chinese domestic market, the company toldUndercurrent.

Also, Zhenye Aquatic, a Chinese processor of farmed whitefish species, told Undercurrent that it’s installing at least two new production lines this year at its facility in Guangdong to produce value-added products for China’s domestic market and export sales in Asia.

Jimmy Chan, deputy general manager of the company, said Zhenyewill add at least two and possibly even four processing lines this year to its existing eight lines. The lines will process locally farmed tilapia, barramundi, Japanese seabass, red drum and catfish.

Zhenye exports 600 containers of finfish products a year but the aim is to expand domestic sales where growth potential “is much bigger”.Aside from being a huge market on its doorstep, China’s value-added demand is growing strongly amid the trend toward convenience.

Same faces in new places

Another thing that happens in Boston every year is that the seafood industry gets introduced to some new faces, but more often, it sees familiar faces with new employers.

There were quite a few big executive moves made in advance of this year’s event.

One of the most high-profile of names to change teams before Boston was Jason Paine, who was recently named the new president of Veitnam-based barramundi farmer AustralisAquaculture, as reported by Undercurrent. Paine previously served for almost 20 years as general manager of US operations for Chilean salmon farmer Multi X.

Another familiar face to change outfits just before the Boston show was Mario Pullara, who was hired by Beaver Street to beef up foodservice sales. Pullara most recently worked for Red Chamber-owned Aqua Star, but he also has been employed by Marubeni’sEastern Fish (two years) and Tampa Maid Fisheries (13 years).

If you were looking for Carey Dougherty, the national sales manager for foodservice at Salisbury, Maryland-based Handy Seafoods, at the Boston show, you needed to head over to the East Coast SeafoodGroup booth instead. Starting this month, she’s the senior national sales manager for New Bedford, Massachusetts-based East Coast after serving four years at Handy, including 18 months in the national sales leadership role and two years and four months as a regional sales manager.

Also worth mentioning is the recent hire by Illex Fishing, an Argentine firm owned by a Chinese investor, of Tomas Gerpe to serve as its general manager. Gerpe was Argentina’s fisheries and aquaculture for three years (2015-2017) before recently joining Illex.

Illex holds a fishing fleet of four squid jiggers, two processing factories in Mar del Plata and PuertoMadryn, and cold storage in Puerto Mardel Planta. It exportsIllex squid, Argentine red shrimp, hake and yellow croaker, among other species.

Yet another big staffing change that got attention in Boston was the promotion of Sidney Azambuja to director of strategic sourcing at RedLobster, the world’s biggest seafood restaurant chain. Azambuja, who got the move up following the exit of Joe Zhou to Slade Gorton & Co., talked to Undercurrent about how he sees the price and supply situation for farmed shrimp as leading to a return to long-term contracts.

“During the pandemic, we went short on contracts. We have to, with all the uncertainty,” he said. “Then, it went to six months, then nine, and now it looks like we can go back to longer contracts.”

The majority of Red Lobster’s shrimp comes from India, butAzambuja, who is Brazilian and also fluent in Spanish, is looking to “get back into Ecuador” for sourcing, he revealed.

Before moving to Red Lobster in 2013, Azambuja worked for USimporter and processor King & Prince Seafood for 10 years, dealing with Latin American shrimp suppliers.

 

SOURCE: Undercurrent News
PHOTO: Seafood Expo North America 2023. Credit Tom Seaman