SyAqua, a Singapore-based shrimp genetics company owned by Ocean 14 Capital, has acquired Mims, Florida, U.S.A.-based Primo Broodstock.
SyAqua specializes in genetics and early nutrition in the shrimp hatchery sector, with operations in the U.S., Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia, as well as other major shrimp-producing nations. Its acquisition of Primo Broodstock will allow it to increase its U.S. broodstock production, it said in a LinkedIn post.
“With this acquisition, we not only aim to improve our current portfolio but also to explore new market opportunities and, most importantly, to protect strain security with another genetic nucleus and broodstock multiplication facility in the U.S.,” it said.
SyAqua has revised its target annual production capacity upward to 230,000 broodstock by the end of 2024.
“This acquisition will enhance our ability to meet the growing demand in major shrimp-producing markets,” it said.
Primo Broodstock specializes in specific pathogen free (SPF) and disease-tolerant genetic shrimp lines.
“Primo was the first to leverage SPF populations out of Ecuador specifically to address disease challenges in major markets like Mexico and China,” SyAqua said. “This acquisition allows us to tap into robust and well-established genetic resources while significantly expanding our current U.S. facilities [for] genetic nucleus and broodstock multiplication. We continue to refine our biofloc-based raceway production technologies, known for efficiency and producing superior broodstock. This expansion, coupled with new state-of-the-art packing lines, will ensure stringent environmental control and top-notch product quality.”
The company was founded in 2000 in Ecuador and expanded into the Malaysian and Chinese markets in 2014. In 2017, Primo was acquired by the Golden Springs Group, which pledged to invest in the company’s U.S. infrastructure with the goal of doubling capacity. Its current CEO, Fred Kao, was appointed in 2023, soon after the company was acquired by Ocean 14, a Luxembourg-headquartered private equity impact investment firm.
Ocean 14 Founding Partner George Duffield said the firm’s purchase of an 80 percent share of SyAqua was meant to support the sustainable intensification in the shrimp-farming industry.
“SyAqua‘s technologies in genetics and nutrition have a powerful impact on sustainable intensification of the shrimp industry by reducing waste per unit of production and ensuing externalities,” Duffield said at the time.
Ocean 14 Founding Partner and Chief Investment Officer Francisco Saraiva Gomes said Ocean 14 planned to use SyAqua as a platform for sustainable shrimp technologies and that the firm would invest more into SyAqua to encourage its growth.
In its announcement, SyAqua said the Primo Broodstock acquisition advances that goal.
“SyAqua now also has the potential to tap into new genetic stocks that have been developed over years through selective breeding and increases our potential opportunities to be more innovative and selective to create traits that have enhanced performance even in the most challenging production environments,” it said. “Our long-term commitment to a balanced line genetic selection program remains unwavering.”
