Japanese giants buy into Danish Salmon Co.
TWO giant Japanese corporations have combined to buy a majority stake in the company Danish Salmon.
The Marubeni Corporation and Nissui Europe, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nippon Suisan Kaisha, say they have reached an agreement to jointly acquire 66.7 per cent of the shares in Danish Salmon A/S, which has a major aquaculture facility in the town of Hirtshals. Last year the Japanese Corporation Nissui took a majority stake in the Grimsby fish processor Flatfish. Danish salmon produces around 1,200 tonnes of salmon a year, but it recently announced plans to more than double its output.
Both corporations are clearly expecting a major upswing in demand for quality protein. They said in a statement:
\’The improvement of living standards in developing countries and growing health consciousness in developed countries are reflected in the continuing rise in demand for marine products. Nevertheless, as the production volume of world fisheries has been stable last 30 years, the growing demand will be met by aquaculture.
\’Within this field, the sub-industry of salmon farming is regulated by geographical condition which causes a limit in its expansion. Therefore, the expansion of land-based salmon farming can be achieved through the use of a Recirculating Aquaculture System (“RAS”), which is not limited by geographical conditions.
\’RAS is a farming method with the potential to minimise environmental impact by reducing both the risk of water pollution and the risk of escaped farmed fish. It is for these reasons that RAS is currently drawing attention as a future solution to a potential protein shortage caused by an increased global population\’.
Danish Salmon is the top-ranked company in the salmon RAS business, and one of the few companies with an already established RAS salmon farming method. Marubeni, along with Nissui, a company possessing substantial farming, have jointly acquired Danish Salmon shares in order to grow their business in Europe, and for the purpose of expanding their RAS operation to countries outside of Europe as well.
They concluded:
\’Through this acquisition, Marubeni aims to satisfy the increasing global demand for seafood by providing a stable supply of sustainable seafood to consumers all over the world and contribute to solving the social challenge of increased protein demand.\’
