M&A advisor: Future consolidation a must for seafood industry

‘Cases such as Pescanova will have to be defined to succeed,’ Ignacio Kleiman says.

Ignacio Kleiman, M&A advisor and managing partner at Antarctica Advisors, said there will be more consolidation in the global fishing industry if it wants to achieve better efficiency, capital and management, reports Faro de Vigo.

“To trade perishable goods, such as fishery products, with the added complexity that it is for food, has many obstacles,” Kleiman said. “It requires a certain level of sophistication.”

In addition, the industry is not only fragmented between big and small companies, but divided depending on species, he said.

The case of Spanish multinational Pescanova, he said, is quite unique in the sense that it has integrated vertically – including all phases of the productive chain – and horizontally – adding more species to its activity.

Kleiman said the company, which was rescued by banks in 2015, will have to be sold strategically given the uniqueness of the business.

“The company has to make a decision, are the producers or processors and sellers? Where do they have their internal strength? Are they good in Central America or would it be good to sell there and use the capital to expand somewhere else?” he asked.

In addition, Kleiman said generational rotation will be key in the future, young people taking over and willing to make investments and take risk.