Faroe Islands salmon farmer Bakkafrost has taken over 90 percent of the shares of cannery Munkebo Seafood, based in Munkebo, Denmark, as of January 1st, 2022.
“On December 23rd 2021, Bakkafrost entered into a share purchase agreement to acquire the shares in Munkebo Seafood A/S,” Bakkafrost announced on Monday. “The deal was jointly made with Michael Karlsen, who has been the General Manager of Munkebo Seafood for the past many years. The shares were acquired from Paul Lybech, who has been engaged with Munkebo Seafood for almost 25 years. The transaction was finalized on January 1st, 2022.”
Bakkafrost has for years been a major supplier of salmon to Munkebo. With the increased production capacity of Bakkafrost’s entities in the Faroe Islands and Scotland, Munkebo Seafood is in a position to increase its supply of salmon-based products, enabling Bakkafrost to add canned food to its product range.
Munkebo Seafood was founded in 1974 and has since the formation been engaged in production of canned fish at the factory in the town 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,” the Bakkafrost announcement added. “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-percent stake, according to Bakkafrost.
The operations of Munkebo Seafood will remain unchanged, we’re told. The company has about 40 employees, and the canned products are currently sold mainly within the EU market to retail customers. Munkebo Seafood had a gross contribution margin of 13.7 million in 2019, with an EBIT of 2.1M DKK, and in 2020 a gross contribution margin of 18.5M DKK, with an EBIT of 4.8M DKK, Bakkafrost said.
“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 — with canned food added to the company’s range of fresh, frozen, and smoked salmon products, and now canned food as well.
“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,” the announcement further added.
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.