Cargill feeds its salmon tank in €1.35bn EWOS takeover from Altor and Bain Capital
Privately owned agribusiness giant Cargill yesterday announced it is buying Ewos, an aquaculture firm, for €1.35bn (£960m).
The purchase of the Scandinavian firm marks Cargill’s entry in the salmon feed market. Ewos currently manufactures over 1.2m tonnes of salmon feed, about one-third of the total market, for a global client base.
Sarena Lin, president of Cargill’s feed and nutrition business, said: “We are looking forward to welcoming 1,000 highly talented and passionate Ewos employees to the Cargill animal nutrition team and strengthening our R&D capabilities and accelerating the pace of innovation to drive strategic long-term growth for Cargill’s animal nutrition business.”
Einar Wathne, Ewos chief executive, said: “Adding Cargill’s vast resources and global reach to Ewos’ leading R&D expertise will allow the new organisation to provide world-class, innovative products and solutions to the global aqua industry.”
As part of the deal, Cargill will acquire seven feed manufacturing facilities – three in Norway and one each in Chile, Canada, Scotland and Vietnam. It will also take over two state-of-the-art research and development centres, in Norway and Chile.
This is Cargill’s second aquaculture deal in recent months.
The firm announced in July a $30bn (£19.25bn) joint venture with Naturisa to build shrimp feed facilities in Ecuador, in which Cargill holds 75 per cent of the investment and manages day-to-day operations.
The deal is subject to regulatory approval.