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The recent change of ownership and a new identity has already started to pay off for Anglesey Aquaculture Ltd, the only producer of sea bass in the United Kingdom.
The company, which was formerly called Selonda UK Ltd., operates a state-of-the-art recirculation fish farm in Anglesey, North Wales. It has a current annual production capacity of 1,000 tonnes of sea bass, all of which is branded as “Anglesey Sea Bass”.
On 5 January 2012, Tethys Ocean B.V. (Tethys Ocean), the aquaculture division of Linnaeus Capital partners B.V. (Linnaeus) acquired the assets and business of Selonda UK, which went into administration on 4 January 2012. On completion of the deal, the company was renamed Anglesey Aquaculture Ltd.
Tethys Ocean is a significant investor in land-based recirculation fish farm technology. Its portfolio includes the Israel-based company Grow Fish Anywhere (www.GrowFishAnywhere.com), and its decision to acquire the Anglesey company is further evidence of its strong belief that land-based recirculation farms can be commercially successful with the correct investment.
Andre Bravo, Managing Director of Anglesey Aquaculture, said: “Anglesey Aquaculture has received incredible support from its new owners in the weeks since the acquisition. Tethys Ocean and Linnaeus understand the unique nature of this special project and are fully prepared to give long-term support to it because they believe that what we are doing here is the future for a lot of fish farming operations around the world.
“Under the guidance of Tethys Ocean, we are first stabilising the Anglesey operation. We will then develop and expand our production capacity, and eventually move into processing and value-added activities.
“From a commercial perspective, I have no doubt that 2012 will be a defining year for Anglesey Sea Bass. We have a number of very exciting contracts in the pipeline that we hope to announce soon. But what I can say for now is the future is looking very bright for this business.”
The Anglesey farm compliments Tethys Ocean’s other aquaculture interests. As well as its participation in the Grow Fish Anywhere venture, it has considerable strategic interests in the leading listed Mediterranean sea bass and sea bream aquaculture companies Nireus Aquacultures, Selonda SA and Dias SA.
Anita Hamilton, Managing Partner of Linnaeus, said: “We are particularly pleased to have contributed to the rescue of the Anglesey company and in securing local employment. Our move is based upon the Tethys Ocean vision to take the Mediterranean aquaculture sector in Europe to the next level. In this pursuit, we have been driven by the conviction that land-based aquaculture systems will play a key role in the future of global sustainable food production and the investment in Wales is an ideal platform for such development and fits strategically into Tethys Ocean.”
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