Japan’s Nissui acquires Chilean salmon firm Pesquera Yadran for US$133M
Nissui Corp. bolsters its aquaculture operations by purchasing a loss-making Chilean salmon business amid strategic expansion in marine products.
CHILE – Japan’s Nissui Corp. has finalised the acquisition of Pesquera Yadran, a Chilean Atlantic salmon farming and processing enterprise, for US$133M.
The transaction involves Nissui’s Chilean subsidiary, Salmones Antartica in Chonchi.
It targets completion in January after approval from selling investors including Inversiones Yadran, Chile Market Limitada Servicios y Asesorias Financieras, and Inversiones Crucol.
Pesquera Yadran supplies salmon to markets across North America, Latin America, and Asia from its operations, which include a processing facility in Quellón, Los Lagos, boasting 40 tonnes of annual capacity, alongside four farms producing 6.5 million smolts yearly.
The company posted a US$45.5m net loss in 2024, reversing a US$430,000 profit from the prior year, with revenues sliding 19% to US$222m and operating profit flipping to a US$21.5m deficit, after a US$ 16.3m gain in 2023.
Nissui views this move as pivotal to balancing its portfolio by 2030, elevating aquaculture as a profitability engine within marine products and food divisions to drive group-wide growth alongside overseas operations and fine chemicals.
The acquisition encompasses Pesquera Yadran’s subsidiary Cultivos Yadran, enhancing Nissui’s regional footprint.
Food and marine products dominate Nissui’s revenue streams, fuelling a 6.6% sales rise to ¥886.13bn (US$5.7bn) for the fiscal year ended March, with food at ¥471.1bn (US$3.03bn) and marine products at ¥364.1bn (US$2.34bn).
Operating profit advanced 7.1% to ¥31.8bn (US$204.6m), while owner-attributable profit grew 6.4% to ¥25.3bn (US$162.9m).
Teru Tanaka, elevated to president and CEO in May from marine division executive, oversees these cash-generating segments.
A November update for the second quarter of the new fiscal year revealed group revenues up 2.8% to ¥452.9bn (US$2.91bn), food sales climbing 5% to ¥251.7bn (US$1.62bn), and marine products edging 1.8% higher to ¥178.8bn (US$1.15bn).
Operating profit surged 14.6% to ¥19.7bn (US$126.8m), with owner-attributable profit rising 13.7% to ¥14.2bn (US$91.4m).
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