Icelandic fishing firm Vinnslustöðin (VSV) announced its subsidiary VSV Portugal has acquired Portugal-based processing company Empresa de Secagem de Bacalhau (ESBAL).
ESBAL specializes in the production of dehydrated and frozen salted fish products, as well as dried salted fish products, commonly referred to as bacalhau in Portugal. According to a release from VSV, the latest investment is part of its efforts to develop the company’s processing within Portugal.
The purchase builds on VSV’s earlier purchase of Grupeixe, which the company purchased in 2019. The exact terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“The collaboration between the two companies creates a powerful whole where production and marketing support each other,” VSV said. “With the acquisition of ESBAL, Vinnslustöðin further strengthens its position in Portugal and increases its ability to serve both consumers and customers with a more diverse product offering.”
Grupeixe CEO Nunu Araújo said the acquisition will continue the company’s efforts in the salted and dried fish market and that the new purchase will also open up options for prepared and frozen cod products.
"With this, we are effectively completing the value chain in the Portuguese market – from Iceland's fishing grounds to the consumer's table, with quality, precision, and tradition as our guiding principles,” Araújo said. "Grupeixe and ESBAL together form a stronger and more integrated group of companies with increased capacity for growth. We are ready for the next chapter, together."
VSV has expanded through acquisitions in the past.
In 2022, it announced plans to acquire two separate companies, Utgerdarfelagid Ós and Leo Seafood. That purchase later went through in April 2023 after the Icelandic Competition Authority gave it its approval. That purchase unlocked new cod quota for VSV, bringing it to a total of 7 percent of the collective quota in Iceland.
VSV is partially owned by Fisk Seafood after the company purchased a 33 percent share from Brim in 2018.
