Chilean merger forms super group

AGROSUPER, one of Chile’s top food producers, last month announced plans to buy AquaChile for $850 million, Reuters reported.

AquaChile, one of Chile’s largest salmon producers, had recently struck a $255 million deal to purchase two smaller Chilean fish farming operations, boosting the company’s access to the Magallanes region of Patagonia.

Several salmon producing companies in Chile have moved to consolidate in recent months as demand and prices for salmon have increased and Chilean operations recover from several years of outbreaks of red tide and salmon specific viruses.

In 2016, an outbreak of red tide in Chile killed millions of fish, devastating the world’s second biggest salmon exporter and resulting in losses upwards of $800 million.

AquaChile last month had announced a plan to issue $340 million worth of shares on the Norwegian stock market to finance investment and acquisition goals.