European Union antitrust regulators have approved the joint acquisition, by funds Mubadala Investment Group and Amerra Capital, of the three Greek sea bream and sea bass farming firms: Andromeda, Selonda, and Nireus.
Mubadala Investment Group, an Abu Dhabi strategic investment firm, inked the deal alongside Amerra Capital in June 2018 to acquire Selonda and Nireaus. Andromeda was previously acquired by Amerra Capital Management in 2016, after being sold by the South Eastern Europe Fund.
The European Commission (EC) said approval is conditional on a remedy package offered by the two companies that includes: The divestiture of fish farms that produce 10,000 metric tons (MT) of Mediterranean fish, together with packaging facilities for this with the same capacity; and the divestiture of hatcheries that produce 50 million fry and the transfer of the know-how in research and breeding programs of Nireus and Selonda to the purchaser.
In a statement, the EC said these commitments fully address its concerns in the supply of farmed Mediterranean fish and Mediterranean fry and ensure that the divestment business will be a viable competitor to the merged entity.
The E.C. concluded that the proposed transaction, as modified by the commitments, would no longer raise competition concerns in Greece, Italy, Portugal, and in the European Economic Area.
Ahead of its decision, and on receiving notification of the transaction in December last year, the E.C. examined the effects of the proposed deal on competition in markets where the activities of Andromeda, Nireus, and Selonda overlap: The production and the supply of Mediterranean farmed fish (i.e. sea bream and sea bass); and the production and the supply of bream and bass fry.
In terms of the production and supply of Mediterranean farmed fish, the companies have been close competitors, and the proposed transaction would create the largest European producer of Mediterranean bream and bass. The E.C. found that, after the proposed transaction, the companies would have strong market positions in Greece, Italy, Portugal, and in the E.E.A. as a whole.
As regards to the production and supply of fry, the E.C. found that after the proposed transaction, the companies would have strong market positions in Greece and in the E.E.A. In addition, it found that the companies would have been the only fry producer with a research and breeding program for both species.
It was therefore concerned that the transaction could have led to higher prices for customers of Mediterranean farmed fish, as well as of the fry.
