Korean seafood giant Sajo acquires Foodist for $181 million

Sajo Group, a South Korean seafood and fisheries conglomerate, has acquired Foodist Co., a domestic food ingredient and catering service provider, for 252 billion won ($181 million) to strengthen its food supply chain.

The conglomerate said on Monday its affiliates Sajo Oyang Co. and Sajo CPK Co. jointly purchased 99.86% of Foodist from Seoul-based private equity firm VIG Partners.

The acquisition follows Sajo Group’s takeover in February of Ingredion Korea from US food company Ingredion Inc. for $294 million and renaming it Sajo CPK.

Foodist is Korea’s sixth-largest food materials distribution and catering service operator.

Hanwha Hotels & Resorts, a Hanwha Group affiliate, had previously operated Foodist as an in-house unit for years until it sold the unit to VIG Partners for about 100 billion won in 2020.

About 75% of Foodist’s sales come from the food materials and ingredient distribution business and the remaining 25% from the food catering business.

The company posted 7.5 billion won in operating profit on sales of 1.03 trillion won in 2023.

ACQUISITION TO HELP SAJO MOVE UP THE LADDER

With the acquisition of Foodist, Sajo Group is expected to overtake its immediate rival Daesang Corp. to become Korea’s third-largest food conglomerate after CJ CheilJedang Corp. and Dongwon F&B Co.

Last year, Daesang Group posted 5.26 trillion won in sales on a consolidated basis, followed by Sajo, which reaped 4.13 trillion won in groupwide sales. Sajo Group’s sales are expected to reach some 6 trillion won this year.

Sajo Group, a mid-tier business group known for deep-sea fishing operations and a wide range of processed seafood products, including canned tuna, has aggressively pursued inorganic growth through mergers and acquisitions of rival companies.

In 2004, it acquired Shindongbang, which was renamed Sajo Haepyo, a soybean company. The group purchased Daerim Fisheries in 2006 and renamed it Sajo Daerim Corp.

In succeeding years, Sajo also acquired Oyang Corp., now called Sajo Oyang, and Donga One, which became Sajo Donga One Co., a flour and foodstuff company.

VICE CHAIR JU JI-HONG LEADS DEAL

Industry watchers said Sajo’s acquisition of Foodist was agreed upon even before VIG Partners officially began bidding.

“We understand Sajo Group showed a keen interest in Foodist and strongly expressed its determination to buy it,” said an investment banking source.

Sources said Sajo Vice Chairman Ju Ji-hong, the eldest son of Group Chairman Ju Jin-woo, led the deal.

“Through the acquisition, we aim to achieve groupwide sales of 6 trillion won this year and 10 trillion won within the next five years,” said the vice chairman.

Write to Hyeong-Ju Oh at ohj@hankyung.com


In-Soo Nam edited this article.