The likely upcoming sale process for Portobello Capital’s stake in Grupo Iberica de Congelados (Ibercosa) will attract a lot of trade and private equity interest, with the Madrid, Spain-based  private equity (PE) investor in a strong position, said one banker.

According to one source, Gorjan Nikolik of Rabobank, investors should look at unifying Ibercosa and Grupo Nueva Pescanova. However, Nikolik acknowledged the issues with a move like this. Other sources said this is not likely to be a move the management of Ibercosa is likely to want to see, at least in the short-term.

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The investment from Mitsui & Co in Mark Foods shows large, global groups are realizing acquiring or investing in a US distributors is the fastest way to get access to the market, said the advisor to the giant Japanese conglomerate on the deal.

“Global companies are realizing it takes a lifetime to build a market position in the US. The only way to achieve a strong position in the US market is through partnership or an acquisition of a well-established company,” Birgir Brynjolfsson of Antarctica Advisors, who worked as the exclusive advisor to Mitsui on the deal, told Undercurrent News.

Mitsui, which has also has minority stakes in the salmon farming arm of Chile’s Multiexport Foods and Vietnamese shrimp supplier Minh Phu Seafood, already has a US operation involved in the food sector.

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Son negocios en expansión con generación constante de caja, de ahí que sean atractivos para este tipo de sociedades.

La comercialización de productos del mar está al alza en Europa (por la recuperación del consumo tras la crisis), Estados Unidos (con nuevos formatos) y Asia (por una creciente clase media en China). En Galicia es una industria muy atomizada pese a que las Rías Baixas concentran la mayor capacidad productiva de la eurozona. Aún así, solo Nueva Pescanova figuraba entre las top 100 del mundo, un ránking al que ha entrado Ibérica de Congelados (Iberconsa) tras la compra por esta última de la argentina pesquera Santa Cruz. Ninguna de ellas está en manos de industriales de la pesca; la primera es propiedad de la banca acreedora, que ya ha iniciado contactos para desinvertir, y la segunda está en manos (en un 55%) del fondo Portobello Capital.

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March 16, 2018 – Antarctica Advisors LLC, the leading Seafood Industry-focused M&A advisory firm, acted as the exclusive investment banking advisor to Mitsui & Co (U.S.A.) in a strategic partnership transaction with Mark Foods, a New York-based importer and marketer of quality seafood products to high-end retailers, distributors, and restaurant groups in the U.S.

Mitsui & Co (U.S.A.) is the U.S. subsidiary of Mitsui & Co Ltd, one of the largest general trading companies in Japan and publicly traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange with $100 billion dollars in total assets. The group owns considerable seafood resources worldwide, including shrimp farming operations in Asia and salmon farming operations in South America.

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