Andromeda Seafood Group CEO Alex Myers says the newly created seabass and seabream powerhouse has its eye on other species as part of its diversification drive, and sees salmon offering a road map for how to scale.
"There’s been a lot of focus on salmon, but we are in a position where we have multiple species, and we think we might look at a portfolio strategy of different species rather than just one," the top exec said at the North Atlantic Seafood Forum (NASF) in Bergen, Norway last week.
In October 2019, the group acquired majority stakes in the two Greek seabass and seabream powerhouses Nireus and Selonda, following the European Commission's green light.
The company is currently working on a five-year plan, Myers said, but it's a complex job.
"Right now, it’s just a huge elephant and we need to cut it into small pieces," he said.
Since the mega-merger, Andromeda operates three factories for fish feed in Greece, 85 fish farming facilities, and four processing facilities.
Spain and Italy are two of the biggest markets for the company in terms of consumption, Myers said, and as the company remains focused on its region, it still has "ambitions to expand."
"There’s a lot of mapping and discussions being done at this moment just 90 days into this new journey," he said. "We are looking at salmon. We think there’s a lot of ideas to bring down."
IntraFish previously reported that Greek private equity fund Diorasis signed an agreement to acquire farming concessions with a capacity of 10,000 metric tons from Nireus and Selonda for €50 million ($55.4 million).
The transaction has cleared the way for US private equity fund Amerra Capital and a UAE-backed subsidiary of an investment firm Mubadala to become shareholders in the combined business.
In November 2019, George Fragkoulis was appointed as the new CEO of Nireus, replacing Antonis Chachlakis in the role. Leonidas Kolioulis was appointed as the new CEO of Selonda, replacing Athanasios Skordas.
Just last month Andromeda's competitor, Philosofish -- formerly known as G&P Bitsakos Aquaculture -- acquired new production units to boost its capacity fourfold to 16,000 metric tons. This puts the Diorasis-backed company right under Andromeda in terms of capacity and market share.
The seabass and seabream sector had been struggling with oversupply and low prices in European markets.
"In addition to deal fatigue, morale at Nireus and Selonda is low after years of uncertainty about the outcome of the sales process," a source in the industry told IntraFish then.
