Australis Seafoods. Image: Australis Seafoods.

Almost half of Chilean salmon could be in foreign hands

Chile: The purchase of Australis Seafoods by the Chinese conglomerate Joyvio would increase the foreign dominance of exports of Chilean salmon by 6.1%

The Chinese group Joyvio, a subsidiary of the conglomerate Legend Holdings Corporation, which is the parent company of the giant Lenovo, shook the market by signing a promise of purchase agreement under which it could acquire up to 100% of the property of the Australis Seafoods salmon producer in the US. $ 880 million, which will be adjusted according to the variations of the financial debt and working capital in the framework of the Public Offer of shares.

Greater presence of foreign owners

The mega operation that will affect the salmon farming company, until now owned by Chilean Isidoro Quiroga, if carried out, will significantly increase the control of foreign groups in the Chilean industry. Thus, according to figures of Infotrade to September 2018, the domain of foreign conglomerates would grow 6.1 percentage points from 30.9% to 37%, measured in tons exported.

If Multiexport Foods is taken into account, that in its subsidiary Salmex has in the property the Japanese group Mitsui with 23.37%, the presence of foreign groups in the Chilean salmon exports of the aforementioned period, would register 44.6%. With which the local market is increasingly attractive to foreign actors.

SalmonChile celebrates

Arturo Clément, president of Salmonchile, commented that "once again we see how our sector is the protagonist of important investments, which reflects the value of our industry and our projection, where in the last 6 months there have been mergers and acquisitions for US$ 2,000 million, which shows its importance for the economy. "

In this case, "it is very important that foreign investors value our industry and our country to do their business and bet on its development. China as a market for our salmon has a great future, and this acquisition proves it. This year shipments to that destination have practically doubled," said Clément.

This possible transaction accounts for the consolidation of the sector "and the great perspective that the Chilean salmon industry has in the medium term. These acquisitions make us very happy, because they reflect that companies are doing their job well, with excellent rates not only financial, but also health, environmental and social," according to the trade union leader.