Acquisition · Food (seafood)
Umios to buy North American frozen-seafood maker High Liner Foods for about C$804 million
- Buyer
- Umios (formerly Maruha Nichiro) (Tokyo)
- Target
- High Liner Foods, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada (sells across the US)
- Value
- About C$804M for the shares (C$27.00 a share); about C$1.25B including debt
- Status
- Agreed. Needs 75% of shareholder votes (meeting expected in December 2026), court approval, and Canadian and US competition clearance. Holders of about 45% of shares have agreed to vote yes. Expected to close in January 2027.
- Date
- 2026-10-26
Umios, the seafood company formerly called Maruha Nichiro, agreed to buy all of High Liner Foods for C$27.00 a share in cash, a 79% premium to its last close. That values the shares at about C$804 million, and about C$1.25 billion including debt. High Liner, based in Nova Scotia, is a leading seller of frozen seafood to stores and restaurants in the US and Canada, and owns the Mrs. Paul's and Van de Kamp's brands, bought in 2025. Umios plans to make it the core of its North American business and to turn Alaska pollock into finished products there.
Why it matters
High Liner is headquartered in Canada but does much of its business in the US, so the deal gives Japan's biggest seafood group a ready-made sales network in US grocery stores and restaurants. It adds to the run of Japanese food makers buying in North America and still needs US antitrust clearance.
About High Liner
High Liner dates back to 1899 in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, and has been listed in Toronto since 1967. Its 2025 sales were about $1.03 billion. It runs plants in Lunenburg, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Newport News, Virginia, and more of its 1,206 staff work in the US (651) than in Canada (536). Besides its own brands, it makes private-label frozen fish for many North American stores.
Terms and advisers
Umios, with yearly sales of about ¥1.1 trillion, will pay mainly with borrowed money and cash on hand. The deal runs as a court-approved plan of arrangement under Nova Scotia law. Umios has promised to keep High Liner's head office in Nova Scotia. Greenhill, part of Mizuho, advised Umios; BMO Capital Markets advised High Liner.
Sources
Kakehashi M&A News home
