Edinburgh Salmon Co sold to French seafood group – Fishupdate.com

Edinburgh Salmon Co sold to French seafood group Published:  16 April, 2012

THE  Edinburgh Salmon Co (ESCo), which employs almost 300 people in Scotland,  has been sold to Merinvest, the French parent company of the seafood firm MerAlliance for an undisclosed sum.

Merinvest had a turnover in excess of £75 million with businesses in France (Amoric S.A.S and Narvik S.A.S) and also Poland with MerAlliance Poland and they have over 550 employees. With the addition of The Edinburgh Salmon Company (ESCo) turnover will increase beyond £110m and more than 800 employees.

This latest acquisition is seen as a key strategic move along the road to Merinvest achieving its goal of becoming the European leader in the private label market for Smoked & Marinated Fish/Seafood sold through retailers.The supermarket group Asda is one of Esco’s key customers, an alliance which has helped it to achieve major growth in recent years.

A statement from the Edinburgh Salmon Co said: “The Strategic alignment of ESCo and its major customers will not be affected by this change but it is envisaged that this will provide the opportunity for ESCo products to be marketed in ‘wider’ Europe and for Sister company products to be offered to existing ESCo customers.There are many more Synergies this change will bring not least major benefits in Procurement and Efficiencies.”

The statement added: “ESCo has experienced major growth over the past few years and this change of ownership will help in the next stage of its ambitious growth plans.This is a really exciting time for all concerned with the business with a New Raw Salmon/Seafood Facility due for completion in June this Year and now the New Ownership of ESCo.”