Canadian seafood company High Liner Foods is in talks to buy the US and Asian operations of rival Icelandic Group.
High Liner said today (28 October) that the two sides were in “exclusive discussions” over a deal. The companies were discussing the terms and conditions of the acquisition and High Liner is still conducting due diligence on the Icelandic assets.
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“As such, there can be no assurance that a final agreement will be reached,” High Liner said.
In January, High Liner made an unsolicited EUR340m (US$481.5m) offer for the whole of Icelandic, which supplies seafood to retail and foodservice customers in the US, Asia and Europe.
At the time, FSI, the consortium of pension funds that owns High Liner, was in talks to sell the company’s European operations to private-equity fund Triton but those discussions broke down. FSI then opted to put the US and Asian businesses on the block but keep the European operations, which supplies retailers like Tesco and Marks and Spencer.
High Liner remained interested in the US and Asian businesses; the company’s initial bid for Icelandic came because it wanted to expand its presence in the US foodservice sector.
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By GlobalDataIn June, Icelandic sold its operations in France and Germany to a consortium led by Asian seafood processor Pacific Andes.
