Merger Alert: Sea Harvest Pelagic Fishing (Pty) Ltd; Sea Harvest Aquaculture (Pty) Ltd; And Aqunion (Pty) Ltd; Saldanha Sales and Marketing (Pty) Ltd; and West Point Fishing Corporation (Pty) Ltd

The Tribunal has conditionally approved the proposed merger wherein Sea Harvest Pelagic Fishing (Pty) Ltd (“Sea Harvest Pelagic”) and Sea Harvest Aquaculture (Pty) Ltd (“Sea Harvest Aquaculture”), both ultimately controlled by Sea Harvest group Limited (“SHG”), will acquire Aqunion (Pty) Ltd (“Aqunion”), Saldanha Sales and Marketing (Pty) Ltd (“Saldanha Sales and Marketing”), West Point Fishing (Pty) Ltd (“West Point Fishing”) as well as the Terrasan Beleggings’ (Pty) Ltd (“Terrasan”) head office.

The Tribunal has approved the proposed merger with conditions that seek to remedy concerns relating to employment and the exchange of competitively sensitive information.

The acquiring group (SHG and the entities it directly and indirectly controls) operates within the seafood and fishing industries. Sea Harvest’s main seafood business is the fishing of cape hake in South Africa and prawns in Australia; the processing of the catch into frozen and non-frozen seafood for marketing and sale; and the sustainable farming and marketing of abalone. Of relevance to the proposed transaction is that Sea Harvest catches, processes, supplies and markets pelagic fish (anchovies and pilchards). Sea Harvest also has activities in the aquaculture industry.

The target firms include the subsidiaries of Terrasan which operate the pelagic fishing business and abalone business, referred to as the “Aqunion Abalone Business”. Aqunion operates Terrasan's abalone business which includes abalone farming; ranching; processing; sales and marketing; as well as the manufacture and sale of aquafeed for use in abalone farming. Saldanha Sales and Marketing and West Point Fishing operate Terrasan’s pelagic fish business, referred to as the “Saldanha Fishing Business”. It conducts business activities such as harvesting; processing pilchards into canned pilchards and anchovies into fishmeal and fish oil; and supplying and marketing pelagic fish. The Saldanha Fishing Business produces canned fish products out of pilchards for the local market and high-quality fishmeal and fish oil out of anchovies for local and export markets.

Issued by:

Gillian de Gouveia, Communications Manager
On behalf of the Competition Tribunal of South Africa
Cell: +27 (0) 82 410 1195
E-Mail: GillianD@comptrib.co.za
Twitter: @comptrib