Iceland Seafood enters the fast-growing retail market for salmon in Spain.
On Thursday, Iceland Seafood announced that an agreement with the Mestanza family to acquire an 85 per cent stake in the company Ahumados Dominguez in Spain had been finalised.
Ahumados Dominguez is known for its production of premium smoked salmon. The company has strong brand and consumer recognition in Spanish retail. It actively runs consumer campaigns and has a direct consumer facing through its specialty stores.
Pedro Mestanza; Managing Director of the company, will continue to lead the company after the acquisition. Mestanza will hold a 15 per cent minority stake and has an option to buy additional 5 per cent stake from Iceland Seafood within the next five years.
The 85 per cent stake in the company is acquired at €12.44 million, representing a valuation in line with agreed LOI announced in May this year. The sales of the company in 2020 were €19.3 million, EBITDA and PBT after adjusting for one off items were €1.7 million and €1.1 million respectively. Iceland Seafood will finance the acquisition with a combination of debt and equity.
In a press release announcing the acquisition, Iceland Seafood CEO Bjarni Ármannsson said: “I’m pleased we are announcing the acquisition of Ahumados Dominguez. This is a very important part of our ambition to strengthen our position into Spanish retail and at the same time, entering the fast-growing salmon sector in Spain. Ahumados Dominguez is an excellent addition to the current strong footprint in salmon that we have in the Irish salmon sector. Annually, the Group will be producing high quality salmon products from over 6,000 MT of raw material, predominantly for retail. We are confident that the Ahumados Dominguez experienced management team and strong consumer brand position will create an excellent platform for future growth and welcome this new addition to the group.”
Pedro Mestanza, MD Ahumados Dominguez said:
“It is an exciting step for Ahumados Dominguez to partner up with Iceland Seafood. The Groups international expertise and experience when it comes to sourcing and marketing of seafood creates an opportunity to expand our range of high quality products whilst maintaining the highest standards of service to our customers”.
