Sea Harvest up 4.7% as Ladismith Cheese acquisition moves ahead

Sea Harvest [JSE:SHG] shares rose almost 5% in early trade on Thursday after it announced that it was moving ahead with the acquisition of the Ladismith Cheese Company for R527m.

Sea Harvest shares were trading at R14.40 at 10:45 on the JSE, up 4.73%.

The JSE-listed fishing and food business announced in August 2018 that its subsidiary the Cape Harvest Food Group had concluded a share purchase agreement to buy the entire issued share capital of the company that produces cheese, butter and milk powders.

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Sea Harvest said at the time that Ladismith Cheese – which employs 350 people and generated profit after tax of R57.7m for the financial year ended January 2018 – had "significant scale in the food and agricultural sector", a strong national brand and a proven management team.

It added that it expected the local diary industry to grow in response to consumer dietary changes towards natural fat products.

On Thursday Sea Harvest reported that all the conditions for the acquisition had been fulfilled and the transaction has become unconditional.