Salmon genetics company, AquaGen AS, has acquired the majority shareholding of Aquabel, a Brazil-based tilapia breeding and distribution company.
Odd Magne Rodseth, chairman of AquaGen, said: “Our partnership with Aquabel represents an important milestone, which extends our priority areas into the expanding aquaculture industry.”
He added that the position Aquabel has built up and the results which have been created document that the company has unique expertise and a strong position in the market.
“A big potential exists for Aquabel and AquaGen to work together in securing synergies through the exchange of experience and technologies. This will ensure the tilapia industry access to more than 40 years of research and experience-based knowledge related to applied industrial breeding that has made AquaGen into the world’s leading company in salmon genetics,” Mr Rodseth continued.
Aquabel has become the leading supplier of genetic material to the Brazilian tilapia farming industry, the fastest growing aquaculture sector in the Americas. The company develops, produces and sells genetic material distributed as fingerlings and juveniles, tailored to the aquaculture sector’s requirements for farmed tilapia.
With its head office in Londrina, Aquabel has production facilities in six different states in Brazil close to its customers in a rapidly growing industry.
Ricardo Neukirchner, CEO, Aquabel, said: “Our new relationship with AquaGen will contribute to further genetic progress in our breeding programme, and strengthen Aquabel’s position as a trusted and independent supplier to the aquaculture industry.””
With its head office in Norway, AquaGen is a part of the EW Group, a holding company of a number of independently operating companies in the areas of genetics, nutrition and animal health.
