An operator displays a sustainable box of Spencer Gulf Kingfish - one of Clean Seas Sustainable Seafood's brands - at the Sydney Fish Market.
Photo: Clean Seas Sustainable Seafood LinkedIn page.
"We are pleased to advise Yumbah Aquaculture has successfully completed the acquisition of Clean Seas Sustainable Seafood." With those words, published yesterday on its LinkedIn page, the shellfish company put the finishing touches on a transaction that officially closed last July 24, after completing all the necessary steps since the proposed merger was announced in February.
"This acquisition is a significant step for Yumbah as it further diversifies the business from being solely shellfish to now include finfish," the company's post continued. "With Yellowtail Kingfish complementing Yumbah's Greenlip and Tiger Abalone, Blue Mussels and Pacific and Sydney Rock Oysters, we are proud to offer our world-class, sustainable seafood portfolio to market."
The yellowtail kingfish farmer, for its part, had called its pre-Yumbah stage closed a couple of days earlier when, also through its LinkedIn page, it communicated: "Clean Seas has officially joined forces with Yumbah, bringing together a premium seafood portfolio of abalone, mussels, oysters and kingfish. We're excited about this next chapter in sustainable aquaculture. For the latest updates, please follow Yumbah Aquaculture Ltd.”
As mentioned, Yumbah Aquaculture - whose majority shareholder, Anthony Hall, was also Clean Seas' largest shareholder with a 22.6% stake - announced its intention to acquire Clean Seas in February. Previously, on January 31, it had signed a proposal to acquire it for AUD 29.3 million. Under the proposed transaction, the shellfish firm would acquire 100% of the shares of the yellowtail kingfish farmer, offering AUD 0.14 per share in cash or an alternative option to receive shares of Yumbah stock.
The transaction, however, was subject to mutual satisfactory due diligence, unanimous recommendation from the independent committee of directors, and regulatory clearances. Moreover, the deal was also subject to the approval of the offer by the target shareholders and subject to court approval.
All the hurdles were overcome one by one and, after the Clean Seas Board of Directors voted unanimously in favor of the merger, so did the shareholders. Thus, according to plan, scheme shareholders received the default cash consideration of AUD 0.14 in cash for each Clean Seas share held, unless a scheme shareholder had made a valid election to receive the Yumbah scrip alternative, whereby they have been issued 1 new Yumbah share for every 2.8571 Clean Seas shares held.
Following the merger completion, Clean Seas Sustainable Seafood applied to be effectively delisted from the ASX Australian Stock Exchange on July 25, 2025. The company was also removed from trading on Euronext Growth Oslo on the same date, July 24, being its last day of trading.
Yumbah Aquaculture, which describes itself as "the largest producer of abalone in the Southern Hemisphere" and supplies both domestic and international markets, produces more species of shellfish in addition to abalone, including mussels and oysters. Indeed, the company has recently become the first oyster producer to achieve BAP certification in Australia.
Clean Seas, for its part, began farming yellowtail kingfish in southern Australia in 2002 and has been producing its fish under the brands Spencer Gulf Kingfish and South Australian Yellowtail Kingfish. The company claims that it is the global leader in full-cycle breeding, production and sale of Spencer Gulf kingfish, and the largest producer of aquaculture yellowtail kingfish outside Japan.
Both based in Port Lincoln, South Australia, on the southern tip of the Eyre Peninsula - where Yumbah also merged with Eyre Peninsula Seafoods two years ago now - this acquisition is, as said, an important step for Yumbah, as it further diversifies the business from exclusively seafood to now include finfish.
"The addition of kingfish to the abalone, oyster and mussel portfolio will provide further resilience against the inherent risks of aquaculture through diversification," the company states on its website.
"This market scope is reflective of our asset base and production capabilities which span New South Wales (Sydney Rock Oysters), Tasmania (Pacific Oysters), Victoria (Abalone and Mussels) and South Australia (Abalone, Mussels, Oysters and Kingfish)," Yumbah has now added, in announcing the acquisition of Clean Seas Sustainable Seafood.
