Thai Union eyes shrimp investments in Bangladesh, Indonesia

Thai Union eyes shrimp investments in Bangladesh, Indonesia

Thai Union Group Plc, the world's largest canned tuna firm, is considering acquisitions and investments in the shrimp sector in Indonesia and Bangladesh in a bid to reduce reliance on domestic sources of the seafood, its second-biggest business.

"In terms of supply, Indonesia and Bangladesh are interesting countries and we are looking for opportunity in M&A and a joint venture," Rittirong Boonmechote, head of the company's global shrimp business, told reporters on Thursday.

Hit by a serious disease in 2013, shrimp output in Thailand is recovering but still less than half of pre-disease levels.

Thai Union wants to generate $1.2 billion in revenue from new businesses over the next five years, and said last month it would focus on China, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. It's also seeking new acquisition targets after scrapping a $1.5 billion bid for US rival Bumble Bee Seafoods in December due to US government antitrust concerns.

Mr Rittirong said Thai Union is targeting $2.6 billion in annual revenue from shrimp business by 2020, up from $1.4 billion last year. That's part of a drive by the company to more than double overall revenue to $8 billion in 2020.

Shrimp contributes about 27% of Thai Union's revenue, Rittirong said, while tuna generates about 45-50%.

Last week, the firm said it would spend 1.25 billion Indian rupees ($19 million) to buy a 40% stake in the shrimp processing unit of India's Avanti Feeds Ltd.

Revenue from the shrimp joint venture in India should rise to $100 million in 2017, from an estimated $60-70 million in 2016, after capacity expansion, Mr Rittirong said. The company would start booking its share of the venture's profit in the third quarter, he added.

The company aims to build a new plant to boost output to 80-100 tonnes a day next year from 75 tonnes in the second half of 2016, he said.

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