Thai Union acquires stake in Luxemborg-based canned tuna producer

Thai Union Group PCL (Thai Union), through its subsidiary Thai Union EU Seafood has acquired additional 45% stake in TUMD Luxembourg Sarl (TUMD), a holding company, from MDF Investments Ltd (MDF). All companies are based in Luxembourg.
Thai Union EU Seafood is a producer of seafood-based food products. TUMD is the owner of 3 Russian companies namely Dalpromryba Limited Liability Company, Torgovo-Promyshlenny Kompleks Dalpromryba Limited Liability Company and Maguro Limited Liability Company, collectively known as DPR Group (DPR).
DPR is a canned tuna producer and operates in both frozen and ambient segments, and owns brands such as Maguro, Captain of Tastes and Rybar. Following the transaction, Thai Union EU Seafood will hold a total of 90% stake in TUMD and MDF will hold a 10% stake in TUMD.
While it expands overseas, Thai Union is downsizing in its domestic market by closing one of its domestic factories, blaming on the pandemic for the slowdown in sales and difficulty in procuring raw materials. The factory affected is in Pakpanung in Nakorn Si Thammarat, a city in southern Thailand. The plant is part of Thai Union’s Pakfood business and manufactures crab meat. The factory has actually ceased production in early June.
The closure of the factory will not affect Thai Union (TU) as it contributed less than 0.2% of TU revenue which surpassed US$4 billion in 2019. During the first 6 months of 2020, i.e. pandemic period, TU saw its sales jumped 4.2% to Bt 64.15 billion (US$2.06 billion) attributed to strong demand for its ambient products while sales of frozen food declined.