South Africa-based seafood and fishing group Sea Harvest has announced it will acquire another slice of shellfish farming group Viking Aquaculture.
Sea Harvest Group previously owned 54% of shares in the South African shellfish farmer, purchasing a controlling stake in the business in 2018.
Last week the Group announced it will purchasing a further 28% of Viking Aquaculture for ZAR 210 million (10.7 million euros, or 11.3 million USD) increasing its ownership to 82%.
Viking Aquaculture produces abalone, oysters and mussels at its aquaculture operations on the South African and Namibian coasts. Its South African farms in Buffeljags (Western Cape) and Kleinzee (Northern Cape) produce 500 tons of abalone a year for Asian markets. The company also operates oyster farms in South Africa and Namibia, and grows Mediterranean mussels at a facility in Saldanha, on South Africa's west coast.
"The further acquisition fits within Sea Harvest's investment criteria and increases Sea Harvest's ownership in Viking Aquaculture from 54% to 82%, allowing Sea Harvest to integrate Viking Aquaculture, extract operational synergies and align operating structure, growth strategies and funding requirements with that of Sea Harvest," the company said in a statement last week.
Sea Harvest was founded in 1964 as a small fishing company in Saldahna Bay in South Africa. Since then, it has grown to become one of the largest seafood groups in South Africa, listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The Sea Harvest Group harvests wild-caught seafood off the coasts of South Africa, Mozambique and Australia and processes the catch into a variety of chilled and frozen premium seafood products. Through Sea Harvest Aquaculture, the Group farms a variety of fish and shellfish species.