Thai Union Frozen to buy US tuna firm Bumble Bee for $1.5b

FE Team | Published: December 22, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

BANGKOK, Dec 21 (Reuters): Thai Union Frozen Products PCL , the world's biggest producer of canned tuna, has agreed to buy US peer Bumble Bee Seafoods for $1.5 billion as part of a plan to double revenue through overseas acquisitions.
The purchase will give Thai Union control of some of North America's most well-known seafood lines - including two of the three biggest canned tuna brands in the United States - in its quest to reach revenue of $8 billion by 2020.
"The deal is the largest acquisition in the history of our company and one of the most exciting external growth propositions," Thai Union President and Chief Executive Thiraphong Chansiri told reporters on Friday.
The deal marks the latest instance of consolidation in a global seafood industry that analysts say has been in flux over the past few years, as companies change the way they manage supplies and costs to better cater to shifting consumer demand.
The transaction is likely to be completed in the second half of next year, subject to approval from U.S. antimonopoly authorities, said Thai Union, whose clients include Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Costco Wholesale Corp.
Thiraphong, whose company has operated in the U.S. for over 17 years, said he expected a "positive response" from the authorities.
But Thai Union may have to sell U.S. assets to win antitrust approval, said a person familiar with the transaction, who asked not to be identified because of sensitivity of the deal.
Thai Union's Chicken of the Sea is the third-biggest tuna brand in the US behind Bumble Bee. The top brand, Starkist, is owned by South Korea's Dongwon Industries Co Ltd.
Bumble Bee is the largest canned tuna and sardine producer in North America, with brands including Brunswick and Sweet Sue. It is owned by pan-Atlantic private equity firm Lion Capital, which bought the seafood maker from another private equity firm for $980 million in 2010.
It has annual sales of about $1 billion and estimated EBITDA of $145 million for 2014. Its purchase should boost Thai Union's sales next year to $5 billion from $4 billion, Thiraphong said.