Tokyo, Japan-based Maruha Nichiro has announced the merger of two of its U.S. subsidiaries, Westward Seafoods and Alyeska Seafoods.
"The two companies, whose businesses overlap, will create a more efficient operating structure, enhance profitability through improved production efficiency, and improve the efficiency of administrative operations,” the firm said in a 26 February release.
The merger’s effective date was 21 October 2024; Westward Seafoods has now absorbed Alyeska seafoods. The company said that it expected no impact on Maruha’s “consolidated business performance,” since the merger is between subsidiaries.
Both Westward and Alyeska operate large processing plants out of Dutch Harbor, Alaska.
The news comes as Maruha Nichiro, which has its fisheries, aquaculture, and processing operations vertically integrated, reported decreased income in its North American operations in its most recent earnings report, though net sales globally were up 5.2 percent year over year.
Maruha Nichiro attributed its North American slump to a decline in the surimi and Alasksa pollock fillet markets.
