BAADER acquires majority stake in Skaginn 3X

Lübeck, Germany-based processing equipment firm BAADER has acquired a majority stake in Akranes, Iceland-headquartered seafood equipment manufacturer Skaginn 3X.

Terms of the deal were not publicly disclosed. According to a press release, the closing of the deal is expected by 2021, though it is subject to approval by regulatory authorities. Ingólfur Árnason will continue to serve as the CEO of Skaginn 3X and the company’s management team will remain in place. After the closing, Skaginn 3X’s sales force will be integrated into BAADER’s sales systems and infrastructure, though until that time, Skaginn 3X will retain control over its own sales and distribution systems.

“The combination of the long-standing BAADER engineering practices and our deep roots and expertise in Icelandic fisheries, will boost our joint development and innovation,” Árnason said.

Skaginn 3X, which was formed in January 2017 when Skaginn and 3X Technologies completed a merger, has established itself as a developer of innovative seafood processing technology. It is the designer of the Sub-Chilling cooling system, which the company patented in 2019. The Sub-Chilling system is compatible for a range of seafood types and is currently being used for salmon and whitefish processing plants in Iceland and Norway, including at Grieg Seafood’s processing plants at Norway and at Mowi’s Herøy, Norway processing facility.

In 2019, Skaginn 3X debuted its ValuePump, which can clean, cool, freeze, or cook seafood to very exact specifications, and is compatible with a range of products including shrimp, pelagic fish, whole round fish, fillets, portions, roe, liver, or heads and frames. The pump conveys the product through liquid – either water or more frequently a brined, salted sea water solution – contained in a closed, low-pressure pipe system. 

“We have been working on this product for several years, step by step, and just in the last 12 months have we been starting to push really hard to get it out, since we think there has always been a need for this type of equipment but it wasn’t out there until now,” Árnason told SeafoodSource at Seafood Expo Global in May 2019.

Skaginn 3X has concentrated on expanding into Russia and the U.S.A, where large-scale fleet modernization efforts are underway and where new processing plants are being built and older ones upgraded.

BAADER recently celebrated its centenary anniversary and completed a major rebranding effort meant to reflect its evolution into a modern, digital, full-solution provider across several food value-chains. The company, which procures fish and poultry processing machinery, separators, and software solutions, has more than 1,200 employees in 70 locations globally.

“We are happy to announce this joint venture and look forward to jointly offering our customers an even broader scope of superior solutions over the entire processing line,” BAADER Executive Chairwoman Petra Baader said.