Alltech and Finnforel have acquired Raisio’s aquafeed business, including a fish-feed production facility in Raisio, Finland, for EUR 7 million (USD 7.5 million).
Alltech, a global animal health and nutrition company based in Nicholasville, Kentucky, U.S.A., produces specialty feed ingredients and aquafeeds for fish and shrimp via its subsidiary, Alltech Coppens. The Alltech Coppens Aqua Centre (ACAC) in Valkenswaard, the Netherlands, opened in 2017 is one of five aquaculture bioscience centers the company operates around the globe.
Varkaus, Finland-based Finnforel, founded in 2017 by Kaj Arvonen, Pekka Viljakainen, and Petri Heino, currently produces around 1,000 metric tons (MT) of rainbow trout per year in three land-based pilot farms. It also operates Finland’s first selective breeding center for rainbow trout and is planning a rapid expansion into global markets.
“Aquaculture continues to be one of the world’s fastest-growing sources of protein, according to Alltech’s annual Agri-Food Outlook, and is one of the key focus areas for our business,” Alltech President and CEO Mark Lyons said. “Together, with Finnforel, we will be enhancing the quality and availability of nutrition for sustainable aquaculture systems. Aqua producers will benefit from the strength of Alltech’s scientific research and commercial expertise globally, including a dedicated aqua nutrition research center, Alltech Coppens Aqua Centre in the Netherlands, which specializes in nutrition for recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS).”
For Raisio, the sale represents the removal of a loss-making entity from its books, as the company recognized an impairment loss of EUR 4.1 million (USD 4.4 million) on Raisioaqua’s fixed assets in its Q1 2022 earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT). Its aquafeed unit had EUR 24.9 million (USD 25.6 million) in sales in 2022 and its EBIT was EUR -5.1 million (-USD 5.4 million). The debt-free purchase was carried out in the form of a share deal. Raisioaqua Ltd. has already been transferred, as the transaction did not require the approval of federal competition authorities, according to Raisio, and all 27 of the unit’s employees will be retained.
“Raisioaqua Ltd. is the only Finnish fish-feed manufacturer, and its production also plays a vital role in Finland’s fish farming and security of supply. Therefore, it is great that we found a good new home and buyer for the business – one whose business has a place for Raisioaqua’s fish feeds and who will continue to operate the factory in Raisio,” Raisio CEO Pekka Kuusniemi said. “Raisioaqua has performed well in the challenging market environment of 2022.”
For Finnforel, becoming an aquafeed producer will help it achieve its goal of expanding its operations from egg to plate, and to grow its operations globally via the development of other farms, or what it calls “gigafactories,” and through including through sharing its farming expertise with other companies.
“Finnforel’s aim is to export Finnish aquaculture expertise to the world in the coming years,” Finnforel CEO Jussi Mekkonen said. “Finnforel's sustainable circular economy aquaculture chain is also suitable for countries where there is a shortage of water or where fish cannot be farmed using other methods. In this way, the gigafactory itself can be taken to where the consumers are, eliminating the need to transport fish from one country to another.”
Finnforel CTO Tommi Mäkinen said the acquisition of the facility will help his company develop better forms of aquafeed for ...
Photo courtesy of Finnforel
