The world’s largest tuna processor, Thai Union, intends to acquire a majority stake in Germany’s seafood leader, Rügen Fisch. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of January.
Thai Union confirmed Monday it was set to secure a majority stake in the northern German seafood producer Rügen Fisch, a company with over 140 million euros ($152 million )in revenue per year and a workforce of 850 people.

“Through this partnership with Rügen Fisch, Thai Union becomes a market leader in Germany and further strengthens its position as one of the European seafood leaders,” CEO Thiraphong Chansiri said in a statement.

The takeover plan comes after a failed bid by Thai Union to acquire Bumblebee Foods, a leading US brand of canned tuna, after the deal was struck down by US anti-trust authorities.

Fishy subject

The deal was announced even as the Thai company was under pressure after reports last week that one of its outsourced shrimp-processing plants used child and forced labor.

Regardless of the scandal, Rügen Fisch advisory board chief Berthold Brinkman called Thai Union “an ideal partner,” which would help it expand its product range for the German market and invest more in its state-of-the-art facilities in Germany and Lithuania.

Thai Union said it intended to work together with existing shareholders and management led by Andrew Bergmann to create “substantial organic growth opportunities” and “promising returns by 2020.”

hg/nz (dpa, wn.com)