Following last week’s sale to Steinasalir, Icelandic Group's former Belgian subsidiary Gadus will benefit from direct access to supply since the established company includes a number of fish producers and quota holders, according to the new owners.

Steinasalir was established specifically in order to buy Gadus and is comprised of Icelandic seafood companies, including Saemark Seafood, Fishproducts Iceland, and Akur, an Iceland-based private equity fund.

“It also includes around 10 fish producers and quota holders,” Sigurdur Gísli Björnsson, CEO of Saemark Seafood, told IntraFish.

Björnsson was unable to specify how the newly formed company is split between the various partners, however.

"We will use the Easter time to finalize all the details of the ownership of the company and while we are doing that it is a delicate moment to be commenting," he said.

The buyers are also in the middle of the due diligence process for Gadus, making it hard for the different parties to comment.

Icelandic Group: An iceberg melting awayNevertheless, Björnsson said the deal -- originally cooked up by Saemark and Fishproducts -- had been in the pipeline for a couple of years, and would have numerous benefits for both Gadus and the quota holders involved.

“We think Gadus is a very good company with a very good history, we have been doing business with them for 18 years, and I think it would give the management of Gadus a lot of opportunities to be fully integrated with the quota in Iceland and the source here," he said.

Saemark is essentially a sales and marketing company with a close relationship with quota holders in Iceland, and has been selling fresh fish to Gadus for a number of years.

"We are now investing downstream, this is our first step into processing," he said. “We think there is a big opportunity in Belgium and we think there is good opportunity for the quota owners and the fish processing guys in Iceland too as they will have better connections to the market and will understand the needs of the customers better.”

Björnsson was unable to comment for the moment whether the scope of the deal just covered Belgium or whether he would set his sights on the wider EU market as well.

However, he said there were no plans to alter the current Gadus management team.

“We are not going to change the management team -- they’ve done a great job in the past and we have great expectations of them for the future," he said.

“I think Gadus will be a much stronger company with ownership of fully integrated quota owners in Iceland.”

The Gadus sales process was announced by the board of Icelandic Group last January, and "received significant interest from multiple parties."

Frank Tierenteyn, CEO of Icelandic Gadus, told IntraFish the sale is still conditional upon due diligence for the next six weeks. “I will not comment until the deal is completely closed,” he said.

The buyers aim to further promote sales and marketing of seafood in Belgium and central Europe, Icelandic Group said in a statement last week.

Key species for Gadus are salmon and cod, sold to retailers and cash & carry chains in Belgium. Gadus handles and produces around 7,000 metric tons of products annually and employs around 130 people.

At the time of the sale, Björnsson called Gadus "a very exciting investment opportunity to grow internationally."

"A key aim for us is to ensure that the Icelandic seafood industry continues to possess a whole value chain from catch to consumer," he said.

"Direct access to consumer markets is an important component to maximize the value of Iceland´s resources.”

---

For more seafood news and updates, follow us on Facebook and Twitter or sign up for our daily newsletter.