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Family-owned seafood company acquired by Sea Harvest Group
South Africa-based seafood company Sea Harvest Group Limited has completed the acquisition of fishing assets from leading West Australian seafood company MG Kailis with the assistance of Thomson Geer Lawyers.
Adrian Suljanovic
Firm: Thomson Geer (Sea Harvest Group)
Value: N/A
Area: M&A
Key players: The Thomson Geer team was led by partner Scott Gibson, who was supported by special counsel Vi Ky Lam, senior associate Jessica Taylor, lawyer Kajal Parmar and graduate lawyer Ariane Moir.
Deal significance: The acquisition of MG Kailis is part of a larger strategy by Sea Harvest to build an international presence by acquiring businesses involved in high-value seafood species.
With substantial fishing operations out of Exmouth, Western Australia, and a live export Tropical Rock lobster business in Cairns, Queensland, the family-owned MG Kailis is a leading importer and exporter of seafood.
Sea Harvest has acquired the vessels, licenses and fishing rights for prawns in the Exmouth region and trawled fish in the Pilbara region in Western Australia. This has provided Sea Harvest with a diversification of products and further security over supplies.
Assisting in the acquisition was Thomson Geer, which oversaw all features of the deal. This included securing a large amount of approvals from various state and federal regulatory authorities such as the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, the Department of Home Affairs, the Department of Transport and the Foreign Investment Review Board.
Thomson Geer also assisted with a number of property approvals, leases, sub-leases and licenses.
“We’re pleased to have worked with Sea Harvest on the acquisition of this iconic business,” said Mr Gibson.
