Puerto Montt, Chile-based AquaChile announced on 1 June the acquisition of Acuimag S.A. Acuicultura Services, the owner of Salmones Magallanes and Pesquera Eden, for USD 255 million (EUR 218.4 million).
In a press release, AquaChile said it had signed a binding agreement to purchase 100 percent of the shares of Acuimag, and that the transaction would be finalized pending approval by Chile’s relevant authorities.
Salmones Magallanes and Pesquera Eden produce Atlantic salmon in Chile’s Magallanes region, or Region XII, in the country’s remote far south. The purchase incorporates all the assets of Salmones Magallanes and Pesquera Eden, which include 26 sea concessions, a recirculation fish farm, and a processing plant in Puerto Natales, all located in Magallanes. In 2017, Salmones Magallanes and Pesquera Eden produced a combined 22,900 metric tons (MT) of Atlantic salmon, and in a press release, AquaChile General Manager Agustín Ugalde said the operation had the potential to produce up to 40,000 MT “in the medium-term.”
"This acquisition is a big step for our company, since it allows us to enter the Region of Magallanes with the appropriate scale, with assets with a very good productive and health record, and with a first-class human team, thus increasing the geographic diversification of our business and, in the process, making it possible to make better use of the concessions we already have in that region,” Ugalde said. “We are convinced that Magallanes has all the conditions to ensure the sustainable development of aquaculture in the southern part of our country.”
AquaChile, which had sales of USD 632.7 million (EUR 518 million) and revenue of USD 58.9 million (EUR 48.2 million) in 2017, produced 110,000 MT of Atlantic salmon, Pacific salmon, trout and tilapia in 2017.
The company is also interested in acquiring the salmon business of Friosur and has made an offer of USD 200 million (EUR 161.8 million) for the firm, according to Chilean media reports. Friosur has 40 aquaculture concessions in the Aysèn Region producing 20,000 MT of Atlantic salmon.
AquaChile is also planning to raise up to USD 200 million (EUR 163.7 million) in capital for organic growth and potential acquisitions through a listing on Norway’s Oslo Stock Exchange.
In the first quarter of 2018, the firm reported USD 184 million (EUR 156 million) in consolidated sales, a seven percent drop compared to the same period last year.
Photo courtesy of Salmones Magallanes
