Talks between Triton Partners and the Icelandic Group’s pension fund owners have reportedly broken down.
The German private equity fund had been in exclusive negotiations with Enterprise Investment Fund to acquire Icelandic — one of Europe’s largest seafood suppliers — for weeks. But word surfaced on Tuesday that talks had fallen apart, clearing the way for High Liner Foods to potentially make a bid for the Icelandic’s U.S. and Asian operations.
“We’re waiting for someone to contact us and tell us we can be involved in some kind of process,” High Liner CFO Kelly Nelson told Nova Scotia’s Chronicle Herald newspaper. “We’re still interested.”
On 4 January, the Canadian seafood supplier unveiled that it had made an unsolicited offer to purchase Icelandic for EUR 340 million (USD 449.4 million).
“The addition of the Icelandic line of products to our existing line of food service products would make High Liner the leader in the sale of valued-added seafood to the U.S. foodservice market and an even stronger partner for our customers,” said High Liner President and CEO Henry Demone at the time.
High Liner’s EUR 340 million bid for Icelandic included EUR 170 million in debt and EUR 170 million in equity interest. If acquired, High Liner would integrate Icelandic’s U.S. operation into its U.S. division and would assess strategic options for the non-U.S. assets.
