MH seals $125m deal for Acuinova

Christian Pérez The purchase price was US$ 5 million higher than initially agreed, in order to reflect the higher than expected biomass in Acuinova's marine sites.

Acuinova's most important assets include a processing plant in Puerto Chacabuco, two freshwater sites in the Aysén Fjord and 36 farming licences nearby. These assets enable the company to produce salmon from ova to packaged fish within the Aysén region.

The general manager of Marine Harvest Chile, Roberto Riethmüller, welcomed the new acquisition, as it will allow them to resume production of salmon in that region. "This group of assets also allows us to efficiently operate those licences Marine Harvest already had in the area, which are now in their fallowing period," he said. Former employees of Acuinova have been able to retain their jobs, highlighted Mr Reithmuller. "We welcome those more than 400 workers that this week have signed their new contracts with Marine Harvest. With the support and commitment of them all, we hope to implement a production model that will allows us to achieve a sustainable production of 40,000 tonnes of whole gutted fish in the Aysen region in the coming years," he said. The company expects to produce 15,000 tonnes in the Region of Aysén in 2015, as well as 55,000 tonnes in the Region of Los Lagos, making Marine Harvest's total Chilean production levels 70,000 tonnes next year.