Welcome to the first installment of the Seafood Investor Insider, one of the regular features provided by the new IntraFish Business Intelligence unit.

Each month we'll give IntraFish readers an analysis of the industry's key indicators, largest deals, share price movements and more.

Month's Movers

Focus Deal

The sale proceedings of one-third of the Big 3 tuna companies added to the recent calamity surrounding Bumble Bee. Amid a heated criminal trial for embattled former Bumble Bee CEO Chris Lischewski, US canned tuna giant Bumble Bee filed for bankruptcy in order to enter an "asset purchase agreement" with Taiwan-based FCF Co Ltd, which has agreed to acquire the company’s assets for approximately $925 million (€835.5 million).

Here's a look back at how this tuna company has changed hands over the years.

Deal Flow

Ones to Watch

  • Nomad is poised to make future M&A moves after ending the third quarter with €700 million ($775 million), thanks in part to a March capital raising.
  • We'll see who takes a bite out of Chilean producer Salmones Austral as the company prepares for an initial public offering (IPO) within the next year.
  • Brim CEO Gudmundur Kristjansson says the company strategically plans to invest in Icelandic cod companies as minority stakeholders. If these domestic efforts go well, it may turn its M&A sights abroad.
  • Icelandic fishing companies Visir and Thorbjorn are discussing a possible merger, which would combine the companies assets under a new company in Grindavik with a total of 44,000 metric tons of quota and roughly ISK 16 billion (€118 million/$129 million) in turnover.
  • "Speculatively, yeah, there is absolutely a possibility there will be acquisitions in 2020," said Ian Smith, CEO of Canadian shellfish giant Clearwater. "We have an active pipeline that we are looking at in the UK and would expand that to also include Ireland."

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Stockwatch

Over the past six months, Mowi's shares gained 10 percent, faring better than other household name companies, such as Amazon, ExxonMobil, Sprint and Anheuser-Busch.

If you bet on farmed salmon, you made the right bet. Photo: Bloomberg

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The IntraFish Business Intelligence unit provides industry-leading research on a range of topics and markets. For questions about our research or to contact our team, reach out to us at Analysis@IntraFish.com.

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