Tokyo, Japan-based Mitsui & Co. has spent USD 153 million (EUR 136.6 million) to acquire a 35.1 percent equity interest in Minh Phu, Vietnam’s biggest shrimp company.
The stake includes 30 percent in Minh Phu, composed of 60 million new shares, and 5.1 percent (10.2 million shares) from the ownership of the family of Le Van Quang, the chairman and CEO of Minh Phu, Quang told SeafoodSource on Thursday.
The agreed price is USD 2.18 (EUR 1.94) per share, which translates into USD 153 million (EUR 136.5 million) for the 70.2 million shares, according to Quang.
Talks on the investment had been ongoing since at least February, when Minh Phu shortlisted Mitsui and four other companies as possible investors.
Mitsui’s investments will help Minh Phu boost sales, increase farming capacity, build new shrimp processing plants to produce output exclusively for China and gain advanced technologies, Quang said. He said he hopes the deal allows Minh Phu to realize its ambition of accounting for 25 percent of the global shrimp market.
Mitsui also announced the deal with Minh Phu in a statement posted on its website Thursday, 16 May, in which it called the Vietnamese firm “the world's biggest shrimp integrator from farming to processing and sales."
According to Mitsui, Minh Phu owns two processing plants and shrimp farms, totaling 900 hectares in area, in southern Vietnam. It has built a strong position by vertically integrating all stages from shrimp farming to processing and sales. Minh Phu's extensive range of products, including value-added products, are exported to around 50 countries, notably the United States and Japan. Minh Phu accounts for approximately 20 percent of Vietnam's total shrimp exports.
In 2013, Mitsui invested in Minh Phu Hau Giang Joint Stock Company (MPHG), a processing plant affiliated to Minh Phu. Since then, Mitsui has contributed to optimizing management and operations of MPHG.
By investing in the parent company, Mitsui will be able to apply the initiatives developed inside MPHG over to the entire Minh Phu Group, and to leverage the sales networks established by Mitsui's global group to expand the company's sales. Mitsui will also help Minh Phu to achieve further growth through the application of digital technology, including using artificial intelligence in farming ponds and processing plants, and enhancing the efficiency in the shrimp supply chain from farming to marketing.
