Japanese seafood conglomerate Umios has agreed to acquire a larger percentage of New Zealand-based Sanford Limited in a total consideration worth NZD 72 million (USD 41 million, EUR 36 million).
The acquisition of more shares in Sanford comes just after Umios reached a deal to acquire North Amerca-based High Liner Foods for an enterprise value of CAD 1.25 billion (USD 891 million, EUR 797 million). According to its notice on the New Zealand Stock Exchange, the company is planning to purchase 9,638,100 ordinary shares for NZD 7.47 (USD 4.24, EUR 3.81) per share, a premium above the less than NZD 7 (USD 3.98, EUR 3.57) it was trading for before the announcement.
Soon after the announcement, Sanford’s share price increased by 12 percent, making it the highest gaining share price on the New Zealand Stock Exchange that day, according to the main board of the stock exchange.
Umios purchased the shares from Ngāi Tahu Investments Limited (NTIL), the private equity investment arm of Ngāi Tahu Holdings, a New Zealand-focused investment company of the Ngāi Tahu Charitable Trust. The sole trustee of the trust is Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, the central tribal governing body of the Māori iwi (tribe) of Te Waipounamu, or the South Island of New Zealand.
NTIL’s share of Sanford Limited comprised just over 10.3 percent of the company, and the sale represents its entire remaining holdings in Sanford. NTIL divested another set of 8,969,621 shares in June 2026 for NZD 7.15 (USD 4.06, EUR 3.64) per share, for an aggregate gross consideration of NZD 64.1 million (USD EUR). That sale went to Forsyth Barr Group Limited, a New Zealand-owned investment firm.
Umios CEO Masaru Ikemi told SeafoodSource the company has been working on a “glocal” strategy that involved potential acquisitions of companies or stakes in companies in four priority areas. The recent acquisitions in both North America and New Zealand follow that strategy, as North America and Oceania are both target regions, he said.
“Our plan is to establish a structure where the headquarters in Japan serves as the global head office with cross-functional oversight,” Ikemi said.
Umios already had a stake in Sanford, which it purchased in 2016. At the time, it acquired a roughly 5 percent stake in the company for a price of NZD 5.70 (then USD 3.84, EUR 3.49) per share. Umios is also one of the only foreign companies to have any fishing quota in New Zealand. The country requires overseas individuals to apply for consent to invest in fishing quota, and any company or individual must meet a number of criteria to be allowed to do so, in part due to amendments to the Fisheries Act which passed in 2014. The country banned foreign flagged fishing vessels from its exclusive economic zone in 2012.
