July
2, 2005
Notice
on Acquisition of Frozen Seafood Producer (King & Prince Seafood Corp.)
in USA
Please be informed that on July 2, 2005 (JST), Nippon Suisan Kaisha, Ltd.
("Nissui": Naoya Kakizoe, President & CEO) completed ongoing negotiations
and formally concluded an agreement to acquire King & Prince Seafood Corporation
("K&P"), a frozen seafood producer in the United States.
As the acquisition is aimed at putting K&P under the management of Gorton's
Inc.(*1), which is Nissui's consolidated subsidiary in the United States,
the agreement was actually signed between K&P and Gorton's Inc. The acquisition
value was US$148 million (approx. 16.1 billion yen assuming an exchange
rate of 109 yen = US$1.00).
K&P is a leading producer of ready-to-eat frozen seafood products (mainly
processed shrimp products) in the United States, and has been growing
as a supplier targeting the foodservice sector especially in recent years.
The purpose of the acquisition is to increase earnings in the North
American market and to expand synergies throughout the Nissui Group, based
on the globalization strategy under Nissui's medium-term management policy
dubbed the TGL (Toward Global Links) plan. Nissui has been operating three
business companies in the United States, namely, Unisea, Inc. (*2), Fishking
Processors, Inc. (*3), and Gorton's Inc. K&P has had dealings with Gorton's
Inc. for many years, and its addition to the Nissui Group will enable
us to further enhance collaboration in the procurement of raw materials,
production, processing and sales between companies, and boost our presence
in the U.S. market for ready-to-eat frozen seafood products. Further,
we hope K&P will enhance its ability to procure raw materials and develop
products and achieve further growth by taking advantage of Nissui's global
supply chain functions and R&D functions, and will help improve the competitiveness
of not merely our North American operations but the Group as a whole.
In accordance with the basic policy under the TGL plan, Nissui has
strived to build a global supply chain and enhance its framework for integrated
operations based on the chain. Nissui will continue to aggressively invest
in this area to increase the Group's value on global scale in the future.
*1 Gorton's Inc. (Head office: Gloucester, Massachusetts, U.S.A.)
Production and sale
of ready-to-eat frozen seafood products
*2 Unisea, Inc. (Head office: Redmond, Washington, U.S.A.)
Procurement, processing/production
and sale of seafood
*3 Fishking Processors, Inc. (Head office: Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.)
Production and sale
of ready-to-eat frozen seafood products
| [Profile of K&P] |
| Company Name: |
King & Prince Seafood Corporation |
| Address: |
1 King & Prince Boulevard, Brunswick, Georgia, U.S.A. |
| Name of Representative: |
Russel S. Mentzer (President & CEO) |
| Established: |
1924 |
| Business Activities: |
Production and sale of frozen foods mainly made of seafood (primarily
shrimp) for foodservice and retail |
| Number of employees: |
400 |
| Performance: |
Net sales: US$130 million
Operating income: US$12 million (year ended December 31, 2004) |
| Facilities: |
Owns processing plant and cold storage on head office's premises
(Plant area: 6,700 square meters, Annual production capacity: 25,000
tons) |
| Clientele: |
Darden Group (American restaurant chain) and other major American
restaurant chains operating nationwide SYSCO (largest distributor in
the United States) |
(Reference)
King & Prince Seafood Corporation's websitehttp://www.kpseafood.com/
