Falkland Islands-based Fortuna has acquired Ocean Fish Group, marking its foray into the UK fishing sector.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
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Fortuna is the quota holder for Loligo and Illex squid, finfish and Patagonian toothfish.
The company recently secured exclusive lobster fishing rights in Tristan da Cunha from 2027.
James Wallace, the managing director of Fortuna, said: “This is a significant acquisition for Fortuna which builds on our strengths as a company, helps further diversify our business, and provides exciting opportunities to realise synergies between the two companies.”
In a statement yesterday (27 November), Ocean Fish said the acquisition will support its expansion.
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By GlobalDataThe company said the deal “strengthens” its UK operations and “further extends its global sales opportunities through access to new products and working with Fortuna to promote their own UK quota species into new global markets”.
The Cornish fishing and processing group supplies retail, wholesale and foodservice customers in the UK and continental Europe.
Formerly majority-owned by the Lakeman family, Ocean Fish has grown through acquisitions including W Stevenson and Sons in Newlyn and a joint venture with Chapman’s of Sevenoaks.
Leigh Genge continues in his role as the firm’s CEO and retains his position as a minority shareholder.
Genge called the firms “like-minded” with “strong cultural and commercial alignment” and added: “The access to wider group support as we set about delivering turnover of £100m by 2030 was a compelling factor for me in this consolidation. Our unique and vertically integrated supply chain just became much stronger with access to new global markets, product synergies and a new species into the UK.”
In October, an Oceana report found half of the UK’s top ten commercial stocks – including North Sea cod and herring – are “critically low” or “overexploited”.
Only 41% of 105 assessed stocks were found to be “healthy”, with 27% “critically” depleted and 25% “overexploited”.
The NGO warned: “The government’s failure to follow the science on catch limits and set a clear plan to end overfishing has pushed many of the UK’s most important fish populations towards collapse.”
It called for legally binding deadlines and catch limits to rebuild stocks.
