Samherji buys stake in major fish carrier

SAMHERJI, the big Icelandic  fishing and seafood processing company, has made another significant move to strengthen its integrated international supply chain.
It has acquired a 25 per cent stake in Eimskip, one of Iceland’s main shipping and logistics lines. Eimskip  also regularly brings fish to the Humber. The move comes just a week after it bought the UK fish supplier Collins Seafoods for an undisclosed  figure.
Samherji has purchased those Eimskip shares held by the US investment fund Yucaipa for a around 11 billion Icelandic kroners ( £79-million sterling or 88-million euros).
Samherji CEO Þorsteinn Már Baldvinsson  described Eimskip as an “old fashioned company with a solid infrastructure, a good staff and a solid business”.
He explained that in recent years Samherji and Eimskip had been involved in many of the same areas of business  \”Eimskip is an international shipping company that builds its operations on good customer service with its North Atlantic shipping fleet and it is a pleasure to be able to participate in the company’s  continued development,” he added.
Founded in 1914, Eimskip is Iceland’s oldest shipping line and employs more than 1,800 people, running 22 vessels and a network of 63 offices in 23 countries. It regularly brings fresh fish from Iceland to the Humber and to the Grimsby fish market.
Samherji owns Iceland’s largest fishing fleet and has extensive overseas interests including processing operations in  Grimsby where its subsidiary, Ice Fesh Seafood, has a large factory and a cold store supplying the likes of Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s.