Global seafood consolidation is accelerating, fueled by cash-rich buyers, private equity, technology adoption and resilient demand.
Seafood M&A activity is expected to remain robust in the coming months, following a strong performance in the first half of 2025, according to investment experts who spoke with IntraFish.
According to an IntraFish tally, a total of 34 deals have closed so far this year.
The volume of deal activity is driven by companies needing to adapt to a range of evolving factors, including resource access, regulatory shifts, technological advances, geopolitical dynamics and sustainability challenges, Jon Gardar Gudmundsson, a partner at MAR Advisors, told IntraFish.
“The mega trends in the industry are the same as always, and those support consolidation. The industry is still fragmented, with high volatility of fishing volumes and prices, supported by high demand,” he said.
Ignacio Kleiman, managing partner at investment banking firm Antarctica Advisors, said that despite concerns earlier in the year about tariffs potentially slowing deals, the market has remained resilient across the global supply chain.
“To be frank, my expectations during the first half of the year were that things were going to slow down a bit, but that has not been the case.”
Some producers absorbed a portion of tariff costs, while distributors passed onhigher prices to consumers, helping maintain margins, Kleiman noted.
“The industry has been pretty nimble in trying to find ways to minimize theimpact of the tariff. It all depends where in the value chain you are,” he said.
“Strategic players have been doing very well,” Kleiman added. “They are cash-richor have been reducing debt aggressively. Private equity is definitely cash-rich. Banks continue to lend and support the M&A activity actively. So I’m happy to saythat things are good.”
Different subsectors can have different drivers for M&A, depending on where inthe value chain a company sits, Gudmundsson said.
Overall, the seafood industry does benefit from economies of scale, “and I don’tsee many companies that want to remain small with a niche focus,” he added.
Regional factors create challenges, as well as opportunities.
In Iceland, for example, time will tell whether its recent legislation on increasedfisheries fees could lead to further M&A. In Norway, it remains to be seewhether management teams wait or push ahead with M&A ahead of the generalelection this autumn.
So far, this year has seen quite a lot of activity on the M&A side and this willintensify once pending new regulations in Norway and elsewhere really comeinto play and become effective, Norway-based Seafood Corporate Advisorspartner Jorgen Horntvedt said.
Norway is expected to remain a hub for everything in aquaculture, includingdeals. Norwegian players can, however, put value both inside and outside ofNorway.
The pending general election in Norway this autumn could result in lower taxeswith a surge in investments as a potential effect if the Conservative side gets amajority, which then could put capital “into productive use.” Horntvedt said.
Horntvedt cautioned that deals will not continue to increase at their current paceif the low salmon prices remain. “People and companies need to make money topay for deals.”
Further deals in the feed space, for example, will likely hinge on Mowi’s sale of itsfeed business and the potential valuation of it if divested.
A sale or no sale of the Mowi division, could come with a bit of soul searchingfrom feed and other seafood companies on how to improve their businessmodels, increase efficiencies, and consider upsrteam and downstream inclusionsvia acquisitions.
Technology is a driver
The technology space is also likely to see high deal activity going forward, partlyas new technologies are creating competitive advantages and companies need tobe able to invest to stay in the game.
“This drives M&A,” Gudmundsson said.
Horntvedt also anticipates the tech sector will drive deals.
“It goes without saying that a technology shift will eventually happen on allaspects that monitor fish. Deep tech companies will increasingly be targeted byinvestors, including from VC firms up to industry buyers,” Horntvedt said.
Despite potential hiccups and macro-economic uncertainty, activity for theremainder of the year will likely remain high, Gudmundsson said.
“The current global uncertainty can also create opportunities.”
“We always need to be on our toes in this industry. One part of this is toconstantly look for opportunities to acquire, merge or sell off assets,” Gudmundsson said.
Big deals so far
The seafood M&A year kicked off with a bang when Mowi announced it wouldpay NOK 7.4 billion (€629 million/$655 million) to gain control of fellowNorwegian producer Nova Sea in a deal that would boost its global productioncapacity by around 10 percent.
That same month, Indian supply chain platform Captain Fresh completed theacquisition of Polish smoked salmon processor Koral.
In another standout deal, US-based Silver Bay Seafoods took a stake in Alaskarival OBI Seafoods, securing control over a major volume of the state’s wildsalmon harvest.
SOURCE: IntraFish
