Stavis takes investment from seafood group with global raw material reach

A global æshing and processing company based in the Netherlands has made an investment in US supplier Stavis Seafoods, the newly promoted CEO of the latter conærmed to Undercurrent News.

On Wednesday, importer and processor Stavis issued a statement on a “strategic partnership” with a ærm named IMV Holding, which is based in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands.

Chuck Marble, the former Stavis president who the company also announced is taking over from Richard Stavis as CEO, conærmed IMV has taken an equity stake in the Boston, Massachusetts-based processor.

He declined to comment to Undercurrent on whether IMV has taken a majority or a “This partnership sits very well with the strategy and mission of Stavis Seafoods. These are two family businesses with tremendous expertise and resources in the seafood industry. We look forward to leveraging synergies to achieve the Stavis growth strategy,” Marble told Undercurrent, in a statement.

According to Stavis, IMV has vessels and processing facilities around the globe.

Ignacio Kleiman, whose ærm Antarctica Advisors was the advisor to Stavis and the family in this transaction, said the deal is a “strategic integration play” for the US processor.

“IMV is a company from Netherlands that has æshing operations in Africa and South America and sourcing in India and Peru. They are mostly focused on Europe, but they were looking to facilitate a “channel to market” in the US,” he told Undercurrent.

The rationale for the deal is similar to that of Icelandic æshing ærm Samherji, which invested in Slade Gorton, a US processor also based in Boston, in 2015, said Kleiman. “This is a strategic integration play for Stavis, moving closer to the æshing resource. It’s a logical strategic alliance,” he said.

Birgir Brynjolfsson, a senior partner with Antarctica, led the transaction, said Kleiman. Also, Antarctica was the advisor to Stavis in a debt reænancing that took place last year, he said.

As part of the partnership, Richard Stavis has moved from CEO to the role of chief sustainability ofæcer and director of purchasing. Marble has also been promoted to CEO and will take over the day-to-day management and operations of the company.

IMV’s worldwide reach will be a competitive advantage for Stavis, allowing it to show customers a direct connection to æshermen harvesting their seafood right on the boat, the company said.

“For years, one of our main strategic goals was to become a more vertically integrated company so we could meet the ever-changing needs of our customers,” said Richard Stavis, in the statement.

“This partnership not only offers direct access to high quality seafood, it also allows us to promote a simpler, more traceable sourcing solution. Consumers are getting more and more interested in seafood and this partnership makes us better equipped to meet their needs and answer their questions about how their seafood is sourced,” he said.

“This is an exciting time for Stavis Seafoods,” said Marble. “The IMV partnership will increase our production and sourcing capabilities and allow us to target a larger scale of customer while having more control over our supply chain. Stavis has a long history of innovation and excellence in seafood and this relationship will help us continue that tradition by positioning us as a true international player in the industry. We are thrilled about this relationship and the future of Stavis Seafoods.”

By Tom Seaman author tom.seaman@undercurrentnews.com