Cargill Enters Salmon Feed Space with EWOS Acquisition for €1.35 Billion

Marking Cargill’s second aquaculture feed acquisition in two months, the company has signed an agreement with Altor Fund III and Bain Capital Europe III to acquire global salmon feed leader, EWOS for €1.35 billion.

The transaction will launch Cargill’s animal nutrition business into a leadership position in the growing global salmon feed market – one of the most advanced feed industries in the global aquaculture space.

Under the terms of the deal, Cargill will acquire seven production facilities, one each in Chile, Scotland, Canada, and Vietnam, and three in Norway, and will also acquire two state-of-the-art research and development centers located in Chile and Norway.

With the capacity to produce 1.2 million tons of salmon feed for the largest producers in the world, Sarena Lin, president of Cargill’s Feed & Nutrition business says, “EWOS is a winning company. Adding its industry-leading talent and capabilities as well as its thought leadership in sustainable business practices will be transformational for our aquaculture nutrition business.”

This acquisition will add to the company’s existing presence in the aquaculture sector in Mexico, Central America, China, the U.S., Southeast Asia, India, and Ecuador, and will bring the company’s number of global R&D and Technology Application facilities to 15.

Given known macro drivers, Cargill has made major recent inroads into the global aquaculture market. In early July the company announced the building of a $30 million shrimp feed facility in Ecaudor through a joint venture with Naturisa.

"With the need for protein expected to grow by 70 percent worldwide by 2050, farmed fish and shrimp offers one solution to meeting this demand, and Cargill intends to play a major role in this growing and important market," Lin said.

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