BAKKAFROST ACQUIRES DANISH FISH CANNING COMPANY

Bakkafrost acquires Danish fish canning company. Bakkafrost has entered into a share purchase agreement to acquire the shares in Danish fish canner Munkebo Seafood A/S. The deal was jointly made with Michael Karlsen, who has been the General Manager of Munkebo Seafood for many years. The shares were acquired from Paul Lybech, who has been engaged with Munkebo Seafood for almost 25 years. The transaction was finalised on January 1^st 2022.

Munkebo Seafood A/S was founded in 1974 and has since the formation been engaged in production of canned fish at the factory in the city of Munkebo. Today, the company operates a modern canning facility and offers a wide range of products, of which a larger share is based on salmon. Bakkafrost has been one of the largest suppliers of raw materials for Munkebo Seafood for the past few years, making Munkebo Seafood a great extension of Bakkafrost’s value chain. With a planned increase in production of salmon over the coming years, from Bakkafrost’s farms in the Faroe Islands and in Scotland, Munkebo Seafood will have a strengthened raw material base.

Michael Karlsen continues as general manager of Munkebo Seafood, now with a 10% stake. The operations of Munkebo Seafood will remain unchanged. Munkebo Seafood has around 40 employees, and the products are currently sold mainly within the EU market to retail customers. Munkebo Seafood had a gross contribution margin of DKK 13.7m in 2019, with an EBIT of DKK 2.1m, and in 2020 a gross contribution margin of DKK 18.5m, with an EBIT DKK 4.8m. There is considerable spare production capacity for future growth within the current facility.

With the acquisition of Munkebo Seafood, Bakkafrost can now offer a wider range of products. Bakkafrost offers fresh, frozen, and smoked salmon products, and now canned food is added.  Bakkafrost has a global sales network, and Munkebo Seafood’s products will now be offered in a wider market as a supplement to Bakkafrost’s other consumer packaged products.

Bakkafrost is the largest salmon farmer in the Faroe Islands and has extensive salmon farming in Scotland. The Bakkafrost Group is fully integrated from the production of fishmeal and salmon feed to genetics, roe and fry, breeding, processing, processing, and sales. Bakkafrost has activities in the Faroe Islands, Scotland, England, USA and now also in Denmark. Prior to the acquisition of Munkebo Seafood, Bakkafrost had 1,644 full-time employees.