海鲜行业更新——2023年4月

Seafood Industry Update andExpo Takeaways A p r i l 2 0 2 3 Cascadia Capital Seafood Practice Overview PracticeOverview CascadiaCapital maintains a leading middle market food,beverage andagribusinesspractice,withinwhichitisactiveincoveringthefullseafoodvaluechainfrom harvesters and aquaculture,through processing,distribution,andbrandedproducts.Ouradvisorypracticeisgroundedinitsdeepfamiliaritywithuniqueindustrydynamics,understandingofvaluedrivingandconstrainingfactorswithinbusinessmodels,andactiverelationshipsacrosstheindustryecosystem,allhonedoverhistoricalandcurrenttransactionexperience. Erik EinwalterManaging DirectorFood, Beverage and Agribusinesseeinwalter@cascadiacapital.com(206) 436-2538 PrincipalSub-SectorFocus Cascadia’sSeafoodcoveragespanstheentirevaluechainecosystem,including: –WildHarvest–AquacultureandRelatedInputs–PrimaryProcessing –Value-Added/SecondaryProcessing–ImportandDistribution–BrandedProducts Ryder Thomas Vice PresidentFood, Beverage and Agribusiness rthomas@cascadiacapital.com(206) 436-2582 Seafood Industry Updateand Expo Takeaways Executive Summary–Seafood Industry Update 2023hasalreadystartedoffasadynamicyearfortheSeafoodvertical,andweexpectittobejustasactivethroughthebalanceoftheyear.Thisupdatefocusesonwhatwebelievetobethekeythemesanddynamicsthatshouldbeatthetopofbusinessownersandinvestorsminds,whetherconsideringaliquidityevent,aninvestmentoracquisition,orjustfocusingonorganicgrowthexecution ▪KeythemesdrivingacceleratedactivityintheYTDperiodincludeconsolidationwithinfragmentedspaces,verticalintegration(upstreamordownstream),andgrowingfinancialinvestorinterestinthecategory –Thereremainsalotofopportunityforstrategicconsolidationwithintheindustry.Roll-upstrategiestoconsolidatecomparablebusinesseswithinthemostfragmentedpartsofthevaluechainwilldriveacquisitionactivity,particularlyintheimport/distributionsegmentalongwithlimitedopportunitiesintheresourcesegment(catchers/harvesters)–Verticalintegrationshouldbeaconsideration(thoughnotnecessarilyagoodidea)forallbusinessownerswithinthecategory,particularlyamongprimaryprocessors,secondary/value-addedprocessors,anddistributorswherebusinessescanaddmorevaluefortheircustomersandthuscapturemoremargin–Financialinvestorsthattakethetimetounderstandtheindustry’snuanceswillberewardedwithalotofopportunities Privateequityinvestorinterestintheseafoodcategoryisgrowing–apositivetobusinessownersandinvestorsalike –Asprivateequityevolvestoprovideawiderarrayoftransactionsolutionsrangingacrossminority/majorityownership,holdperiod,leveragelevels,investmentphilosophies,cultures,personalities,ESGaspects,andotherparameters,therewillbegrowthinthenumberofopportunitiesforbusinessownerstoachievetheirliquiditygoalsinatransactionstructureamenabletotheirneeds –Theexpandingnumberofprivateequityinvestorsinterestedinseafoodalsocreatesalarger,morecompetitivemarketforassetsasexperiencedinnon-seafoodfoodandbeveragemanufacturing.Thiswillonlyprovideupwardvaluationpressure,benefittingsellers Re-energized2023SeafoodExpoNorthAmericainBostonhighlightsthefocusoninnovationasthecategorygrowthdriver –Thisyear’sshowmarkedareturnofenergytotheexponotseensincepre-COVID,andthefocusofthatenergywasaroundinnovation.TheindustryasawholeremainsfocusedonrecruitingnewconsumersthroughthoughtfulinnovationthatmakesseafoodmoreapproachableandenjoyablebyNorthAmericanconsumers–Thosethatwintheinnovationbattle–notjustatthebrandlevelbutatallmid-downstreamvaluechainsegments–arethebusinessesthatwillexcelintheircategories Driving Themes of 2023 Acceleration in Acquisition Activity 2023hasstartedwithaflurryofacquisitionactivityintheseafoodspace,withsevennotabledealannouncementsinthefirstthreemonthsoftheyear.Thisrepresentsanaccelerationinthelong-termseculartrendofincreasingacquisition activity in the space,driven by significantfragmentationof the industry and increasing levels of competitionrequiringbusinessestobecomestrongerandscale,ortobeoutcompeted ▪Driversoftheacquisitionactivityarealignedwiththreeprimarythemes: –Consolidationwithinfragmentedspaces–categoryleadersgrowingthroughacquiringadjacentbusinesseswithsimilarbusinessmodelsthatcanofferofferscale,newsupplierorcustomerrelationships,and/orproductlineextensions –Verticalintegration(upstreamanddownstream)–categoryleadersgrowingthrough upstream or downstream acquisition to build amoreverticallyintegratedoperation,addmorevalueandcapturemoremarginthroughmorecompleteownershipofthesupplychain,andharvestingsynergies –Growingfinancialinvestorinterest–growinginterestinthecategoryasprivate equity seeks historically overlooked categories withuntappedareasforvaluecreation Financialsponsorsintheindustrywillbeprudenttounderstandtheuniquenuancesanddynamicsoftheindustry,andhowtheymightbetoolstoprovidenon-strategic liquidity options toseafood businessowners,orenactroll-uporverticalintegrationstrategieswithportfoliocompanies Why Growing Private Equity Interest in Seafood is an Industry Positive ▪Historically,Seafood has been an industry that has bee