New York-based private equity firm, AMERRA Capital Management has acquired a 90% stake in Andromeda Group, one of Greece’s largest producers of sea bass and sea bream, from the South Eastern Europe Fund, which is advised by Global Finance.
Andromeda is a vertically integrated operation engaged in fry production, fish farming, and value added processing, and is the only company of its kind with production in both the Western and Eastern Mediterranean. It has a global scope of exports and sales, selling its products across Europe, the U.S., and the Middle East.
Faced with a challenging business environment in Greece in recent years, Andromeda has been successful in acquiring and integrating businesses into its operation – a track record that attracted AMERRA to the investment.
“We are excited to partner with AMERRA given their deep knowledge of the aquaculture industry,” said Dimitris Valachis, Andromeda’s Chief Executive Officer in a company statement. “As Andromeda pursues a new phase of growth to meet our customers’ demand for quality, healthy products, we are excited to have a partner who is committed to Andromeda’s future success.”
Under Global Finance ownership, Andromeda has grown from a €30 million family operation to a €100 million regional leader in the aquaculture sector.
“We are comfortable that AMERRA with its industry knowledge and international network is the right owner to take Andromeda to the next level,” said Mihalis Madianos, partner, Global Finance.
Greece’s aquaculture industry is largely focused on the farming of the European sea bass and the gilthead sea bream, with combined production of the two species of approximately 110,000 tons in 2015 according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). After a series of difficulties resulting from an imbalance between supply and demand, reformation in the Greek sector including advancements in research, development and innovations to optimize production; diversification of products, and the development of new producers’ organizations have been undertaken with the target of doubling production by 2030.
Based on projections of population growth, the FAO estimates that the aquaculture sector will need to nearly double its current production levels, and produce an additional 37 million tons of seafood by 2030 to keep pace with demand, reports the Huffington Post.
The Mediterranean accounts for 11% of the 2.5 million tons of seafood produced in Europe per year, however, it has been one of the fastest growing segments in Europe, showing an average annual growth of 8% over the past ten years according to Huffington Post, and indicating a great potential for future growth.
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GAI News Staff