November 29, 2016

 

BioMar joint venture in China acquires fish feed firm Haiwei
 

 

BioMar Group's joint venture in China, BioMar-Tongwei Biotech (Wuxi) Ltd, has acquired 100% of the shares in the fish feed company Haiwei.

 

Carlos Diaz, CEO of the BioMar Group, said the acquisition fitted perfectly with BioMar's strategic focus on the top end of the Chinese aquaculture market.

 

"We are very pleased to have concluded this agreement on behalf of BioMar-Tongwei. Haiwei has a very good reputation among fish farmers and we will continue to build on the Haiwei brand and carry on with the company setup. We are confident that BioMar can contribute to the further development of Haiwei and continue their success through process knowledge, R&D methodology and continuous improvement of feed recipes", Diaz said.

 

For three years prior to the sale, Haiwei had been owned by Tongwei Co. Ltd, BioMar's joint-venture partner in China. Tongwei Co. Ltd managed to do a successful turnaround of Haiwei, and today the company is a leading supplier of feed to high-value fish species like Japanese sea bass in southern China.

 

Carlos Diaz underlined that the acquisition was in line with BioMar's global strategy "Shaping the Future": "The acquisition is an important initiative, consistent with our growth strategy in core markets as well as within new species and geographies. In this regard, this is also an important step for our Emerging Markets Division, which plays a significant role supporting the strategy, securing growth for BioMar and building up new markets, integrating acquisitions and servicing new species".

 

BioMar Group said Haiwei was a good geographical acquisition as its location near Macau was an important aquaculture region. "The acquisition will add more than 60,000 tonnes of volume to BioMar's Chinese joint venture company", it added.

 

Diaz said BioMar fish feed is already being produced in Chengdu in south-central China and that a new factory is being built in Wuxi area, nearby Shanghai, with an initial capacity of 50,000 tonnes and with the possibility for expansion to 100,000 tonnes.

 

The BioMar-Tongwei plant being constructed in Wuxi is expected to start operations in the second half of 2017.

Standing from the left: Ricle Chen, business development, Tongwei; Yuan Shihua, chairman of the board, BioMar-Tongwei; Henrik Aarestrup, vice president, Emerging Markets, BioMar Group; Niels Alsted, vice president Asia, BioMar Group. Seated: Guo Yizhong, CEO, Tongwei (left) and Carlos Diaz, CEO, BioMar Group.