December 12, 2006

Top Japanese seafood companies to merge
 

Maruha Group Inc, Japan's largest seafood company, and possibly the world's largest, is integrating its operations with Nichiro Corp, the third-largest, under a holding company to be created next October.

Maruha has been involved in the whaling industry for the past 70 years, under its previous name of Taiyo Fishery and branched into aquaculture following an international whaling moratorium.

Maruha owned 19 percent of the whaling company, Kyodo Senpaku, through a wholly owned subsidiary called Taiyo A&F Co. Ltd. Taiyo A&F is a successful international seafood company in its own right and processes whalemeat from the 'scientific' hunt for sale across Japan.

Following years of criticism from anti-whaling groups, The company transferred its shares of its whaling operations to government-owned companies this year.

Kyodo Senpaku is Japan's only pelagic whaling fleet and carries out whaling for 'scientific' purposes under contract to the Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR).

Maruha has around 168 group companies (overseas 59, domestic 109), TransEurope Seafood sales B.V. (The Netherlands), Westward Seafoods Inc. (US), Supreme Alaska Seafoods Inc. (US), Orca Bay Seafoods Inc. (US), Trans Ocean Products Inc. (US) and Kingfisher Holdings Ltd (Thailand)

Taiyo A&F supplies seafood products to Japan, US and Europe and has a growing international network including offices in Peru, Suriname, China, the Philippines, Spain, the U.K, Namibia and South Africa.

The two companies said they would announce details later, sources said.