The country's largest salmon producer, Russian Aquaculture, announced the acquisition of an option to enter into an agreement to buy 40% of the capital of the fish processing plant Tri Stream in the Murmansk region. The latter now on an equal footing belongs to the general director of the company Igor Petrichenko and his partner Georgy Shavernev, according to the USRLE. Petrichenko confirmed to Vedomosti that a deal is being prepared with Russian Aquaculture: it will buy 20% of each partner, he said. The option will be implemented before the end of 2018, said the person familiar with the details of the transaction. Its amount is not disclosed by the parties. In the November presentation for investors, the company wrote about its readiness to invest up to 500 million rubles. in the construction of a fish processing plant.

"Russian aquaculture" produces lake trout and Atlantic salmon on its own farms in Karelia and the Murmansk region, respectively. The largest shareholder of the company is the brother of the governor of the Moscow region Maxim Vorobiev with a share of 47.9%. Also, the shares of the company are owned by Mikhail Kenin, co-owner of the "Development aircraft" (23.5%), another 23.4% - from the Criminal Code "Svinin and Partners", according to "Russian aquaculture" on June 30, 2017.

In the last few years, the company has experienced difficulties due to fish diseases and the loss of its own production capacity: in summer 2015 its primary processing shop burned in the Murmansk region. In the past two years, the company has cooperated with Three Brooks - the plant provided it with processing services, a spokesman for Russian Aquaculture said. The capacity of the enterprise, located not far from the fish farms of the company, is up to 25 000 tons per year, there is also a refrigeration warehouse, infrastructure.

Entering the capital of the Three Streams will ensure that Russian aquaculture, guaranteed by its representative, will have access to the necessary facilities, which means it will increase operational efficiency and reduce its operational risks. In addition, Russian Aquaculture will be able to receive part of the profit from processing, which will have a positive effect on financial indicators, added Ilya Sosnov, Director General of Russian Aquaculture. In January-June 2017, the revenue of the Russian Aquaculture grew more than 11 times to 3.3 billion rubles, net profit amounted to 57.7 million rubles. against 88 million rubles. loss a year earlier. During the same period, the company with a market share of 22% sold almost 7,000 tons of fish (8.3 times more year on year).

"Russian aquaculture" is building a vertically integrated holding in accordance with the new strategy it recently adopted. Previously, she described in detail the plans for vertical integration in the presentation for investors in the run-up to the secondary offering of shares (SPO) on the Moscow Stock Exchange. In addition to purchasing a stake in the processing plant, Russian Aquaculture has already bought two Norwegian plants for the production of planting material (smolta), which in total own licenses for the production of 7 million pcs. smolta per year. Thus, by 2025 the company expects to produce more than 30 000 tonnes of red fish, it is said in its message.

In the world practice, all the largest salmon producers - Marine Harvest Group, Leroy Seafood Group and others. - are vertically integrated holdings: from growing their own planting material and directly marketable fish from it to processing and trading, recalls the Executive Director of the Union of Fish Union Sergei Gudkov. This, he said, provides the company more financial stability, allowing you to extract the maximum profit from such a delicacy product as salmon. Vertical integration is likely to make the company's business more stable, increase its operating results, says Alexey Krivoshapko, director of Prosperity Capital Management. A few years ago, a lot of fish farmers were represented on the market, they were engaged in the cultivation of salmon, Gudkov continues, now there are practically none of them - they were swallowed up by vertically integrated giants.

True, Krivoshapko believes that it is unlikely that the presence of vertical integration will affect the investment attractiveness of "Russian aquaculture." Investors first of all want to see the advantages of "Russian aquaculture" in front of competitors: its effectiveness and a long success story, adds the portfolio manager of Raiffeisen Capital Anton Kravchenko, and one profitable year is not enough.