Mubadala Investment Company, an Abu Dhabi strategic firm with billions of dollars at its disposal, inked a deal alongside U.S. private equity firm Amerra Capital Management to acquire Selonda and Nireus, two aquaculture companies in Greece.
The Andromeda Group, which was purchased by Amerra in 2016, will acquire majority stakes in the two companies. Selonda, which has 32,000 metric tons of annual production in sea bass and sea bream, is located in Athens, and Nireus, based in Koropi, Greece, reported sales of EUR 170 million (USD 196 million) in its last annual report.
“With our focus on aquaculture and agriculture investments, we are excited by the synergies that can be created between these companies. We believe that significant value can be created by building on the comparative advantages of the Mediterranean aquaculture sector,” said Thor Talseth, managing director of Amerra and the Andromeda Group chairman, in a statement.
The acquisition follows the Mubadala’s decision to move into the agribusiness sector, said Elham Al Qasim, Agribusiness director at Mubadala.
“Mubadala took the decision last year to build its presence in the agribusiness sector, which is strategically important to the global economy and has significant potential for value capture,’’ he said in a statement. “Aquaculture is one of the most promising sub-sectors, where the deployment of new technologies can drive productivity improvements and accelerate growth.”
This isn’t the first time that Amerra Capital has bought into the aquaculture sector. In March, Amerra announced their acquisition of aquaculture byproduct firm Marine/Bioproducts, which also does business as Biomega, based in Sotra, Norway.
For Selonda, the acquisition represents good news, according to CEO Mihalis Panagis.
“The signing of the deal by Amerra Capital and Mubadala Investment Company is a very positive development for Selonda and Greece’s aquaculture industry,” he said. “The acquisition, which is expected to be approved and closed within a period of 6 – 8 months, will lead to the formation of a global leader in Mediterranean aquaculture.”
Now the sale will need to be reviewed by the relevant merger control approvals, and other conditions. The value of the acquisition was not announced.
