Young's Seafood owners put business up for sale

Young’s Seafood, one of the UK’s leading fish suppliers, has announced that it has been put up for sale.

The announcement came from its parent company Lion Capital which is owned by private equity firms HPS Investment Partners (UK), Bain Capital Credit and Lion Capital.

The UK-based firm accounts for around 40% of all the fish eaten in the UK every year and has a workforce of around 1,500 people.

Speculation about the fish supplier’s future has been mounting for months with many predicting that the sale will attract interest from both home and abroad.

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Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation - owner of canned food producer Princes - is rumoured to be plotting a bid, according to The Telegraph.

A spokesperson for Young’s Seafood said: ‘We have sent out notification that we intend to start a structured and open bidding process with all interested parties for the sale of the Young’s Seafood group.”

‘Young’s Seafood is the UK’s leading seafood supplier, with a 200-year heritage and a turnover of over £500 million. We aim to inspire people to love fish now and for generations to come.”

In recent weeks Young's Seafood has also announced that it is considering closing its Scottish seafood plant in Annan to move production to Grimsby,