Published on Undercurrent News 27 February 2017 – Click here to view the original article.
Australian abalone producer Yumbah Aquaculture acquired abalone feed manufacturer EP Aquafeeds on Feb. 23.
Under the terms of the acquisition, Lonsdale-based EP will become Yumbah Aquafeeds. The transaction gives South Australia-based Yumbah a 75% stake in the EP business.
The company said this makes Yumbah the only Australian abalone farmer to produce and control the supply of its own feed. The remaining 25% stake goes to the current co-owner, Thomas Coote.
Yumbah, a privately held company claiming to be the largest abalone producer in the southern hemisphere, aims to have a vertical integration model to bring greater efficiencies and certainty into its supply chain, to continue its growth supplying local and export markets with premium seafood.
The company’s primary production sites are four Australian abalone farms, with two in South Australia at Port Lincoln and Kangaroo Island, one at Narrawong in Victoria and another at Bicheno on Tasmania’s east coast.
Yumbah director Anthony Hall said certainty of feed supply and control over composition and quality of feed were two of the key attractions in the acquisition.
“With Yumbah Aquafeeds, we can increase our focus on research and development, grow the capabilities of our company and ultimately achieve new efficiencies and improve productivity,” Hall said.
Coote said he was delighted to partner with Yumbah and would take a lead role as head of Yumbah Aquafeed’s research and development.
Yumbah will continue to employ five people full time at Lonsdale, in Adelaide’s south, but as the company invests for growth, it expects to create more operational diversity and more jobs.