The biggest investor in Sanford, the New Zealand seafood group, is to offload a chunk of its shares in the business.

In a stock-exchange filing, Sanford said Ngai Tahu Investments is to sell around half of its shareholding in the publicly listed group.

Ngai Tahu Investments, which held 19.9% of Sanford, is to lower its stake to 10.3%.

The investor owned 18.6 million shares in the business but is cutting the holding to 9.6 million. The sale, set at a floor price of NZ$7.15 a share, is to raise around NZ$64.1m ($37.6m).

Set up in 1881, Sanford processes a range of local fish and seafood, such as greenshell mussels, scampi, New Zealand sole, hake and yellowbelly flounder, among others.

As well as New Zealand, the group also supplies its goods globally in Europe, North America, the Middle East, Australia and a number of Asian markets, such as Japan, South Korea and China.

Around 1,400 people work for Sanford, across its nine aquaculture sites, five processing plants, three fishing ports and fish market, located across the island.

Last month, the company booked a 5.5% decline in half-year revenue to NZ$270.2m.

Despite the lower sales, Sanford posted “record” first-half EBIT of NZ$64m for the six months to the end of March, a 17.6% rise year-on-year.

The group’s net profit after tax jumped 24.6% to NZ$42.4m.

Sanford said “improved performances” from salmon and wildcatch were partly offset by lower profits from its mussel business.

The company said it had also been focusing on cutting overheads.

MD David Mair said: “My intention is to position the company with a solid platform that will enable us to grow and take advantage of investment opportunities as and when they arise. We will use no-cost/low-cost opportunities first to grow quickly and safely.”

In the year to the end of September 2025, Sanford generated revenue of NZ$584.1m, a rise of 0.2% on 12 months earlier.

EBIT jumped 88% to NZ$102.1m. Net profit after tax more than tripled to NZ$63.7m.