Iceland Seafood International hf (ISI) is acquiring Solo Seafood, the sole owner of Icelandic Iberica in Spain.
Solo Seafood is owned by Sjávarsýn, an investment company in Iceland, and Icelandic Iberica's managing director, FISK Seafood, Jakob Valgeir, and Nesfiskur. The three companies, which hold a significant percentage of the national fishing quotas in Iceland, will become long-term shareholders of ISI.
The acquisition produces a combined group with sales of more than EUR 400 million (USD 483 million), delivering in excess of EUR 10 million (USD 12 million) in proforma pre-tax profits for 2018, with material synergy benefits within the combined business to be added, ISI said in a press release.
After the completion of the transaction, ISI will operate nine value-added factories in seven countries.
"We look forward to welcoming this strong producer group and Icelandic Iberica into the ISI family, combining these two long-standing Icelandic companies into one of the strongest seafood groups in Iceland to further penetrate the Spanish and European markets,” said Benedikt Sveinsson, chairman of ISI.
Icelandic Iberica has a turnover of EUR 120 million (USD 145 million), with a projected 2018 outturn of more than EUR 4.7 million (USD 5.7 million) at pre-tax level.
“With its extensive product range including cod (bacalao), Argentinian shrimp, cuttlefish and hake and processing capacity in Spain and Argentina, the company has seen strong growth in sales and profit in the last few years,” ISI said.
"It is exciting for us at Icelandic Iberica to join Iceland Seafood International to become a leading provider of seafood products through our strong businesses in Europe. Our objective is to be at the forefront with high quality seafood to serve our markets, both existing and new customers,” said Hjörleifur Ásgeirsson, managing director of Icelandic Iberica.
With direct raw material access resulting from the vertical integration and control of over 40,000 tons of quota, sales and profit growth of the new group is anticipated to “benefit significantly in the years to come,” ISI said.
