report

In 2017, Undercurrent News released its first report on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in seafood, highlighting the increase in cross border and cross sector deals, as companies go outside their core species, sectors and geographies for growth.

Our latest report on the topic, “Seafood’s Top Dealmakers II: M&A spend closes on $4bn as conglomerates, PEs vie with industry giants”, shows the amount of cross sector and border M&A in the sector continues to increase. Also, more conglomerates and private equities are joining big industry players in the deal making, seeing the overall spend increase dramatically in 2018.

This year’s report is split into six major sections. The first contains an introduction, giving an overview of the major trends seen in the sector since the last report was published, as well as a spreadsheet charting more than 400 transactions that have taken place in the seafood trade since January 2015.

Where possible, we’ve included details of the value and percentage of the deal, as well as the sectors and nationalities of the involved parties. Finally, where known, the advisors involved on either the buy or sell side of the deal have also been named.

The second deals with 30 of the industry’s most prominent consolidators over the period covered in this report. We’ve provided contact details, acquisition history and an insight into their current priorities.

The companies profiled range from familiar names in the seafood M&A game, like Nippon Suisan Kaisha, Parlevliet & Van der Plas, Cooke and Thai Union Group, to Iceland’s Utgerdarfelag Reykjavikur (formerly Brim) and Iceland Seafood International, as well as Spain’s Grupo Profand and the Netherlands’ W. van der Zwan & Zn.

Each profile is based on our own reporting throughout the year, and in many cases also includes interviews with current management over the firm’s future plans.

Following the profiles of 2017-18’s top industrial consolidators, we’ve also provided profiles of 25 of the top private equity and investment firms involved in the sector during this time. Some, like Portobello Capital and Kverva, have long been major players in the industry, while others such as the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, Summa Equity and Butterfly Equity have only just added seafood to their company portfolios. Others, such as Stellex Capital and Pamplona Capital Management, are on the hunt for their first deal in the sector. If known, we’ve also provided contact details for each firm, as well as the assets each investment group has at its disposal.

As ever, there are certain companies consolidating the seafood industry despite entering from alternative markets and failing to fit the broad definition of a financial or industrial player. Six such companies, including Korea’s CJ Group and the UK’s Hilton Food Group, have been profiled in the report’s fifth section, under the all-encompassing banner of ‘new capital’. We’ve also included Fosun International, a giant Chinese investor that has recently picked up two seafood-M&A focused executives from Legend Holdings, the acquisitive owner of the Lenovo computer brand.

Then, we have profiles the top ten advisory firms focused on seafood that have been the most prolific in the sector throughout 2017-18, from seafood specialists like Squarefield, Antarctica Advisors and Pareto, to global players with a wider remit, like Morgan Stanley & Co. In addition, contact details for the 17 other dealmakers involved in the sector over the period have been provided.

Finally, this year’s report is rounded off with a full timeline of every deal we’ve covered from April 2017 onwards, complete with a brief summary providing background and details on each transaction.

Seafood’s Top Dealmakers II features:

• Introduction on main M&A trends and data analysis
• Spreadsheet charting more than 400 transactions that have taken place in the seafood industry since January 2015
• Profiles of the active advisory firms focused on seafood throughout 2017-18, from seafood specialists such as Squarefield, Antarctica Advisors and Pareto, to global players with a wider remit, like Morgan Stanley Profiles, contact details and acquisition history for 30 of the industry’s most prominent consolidators over the period
• Profiles of 25 of the top private equity and investment firms involved in the sector in the period
• Additionally, profiles of some of the new players into the sector, including Korea’s CJ Group, the UK’s Hilton Food Group, and China’s Legend and Fosun
• Full timeline of every deal since May 2017, when the first edition of "Seafood's Top Dealmakers" was published. Each deal is accompanied by a brief summary providing background and details on each transaction

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