KUALA LUMPUR (May 27): Navis Capital Partners, a private equity firm based in Malaysia, announced the sale of its entire stake in Vietnamese seafood products company Godaco Seafood Joint Stock Company in a management buyout.

The transaction details were not disclosed in Tuesday’s press statement announcing the deal. Godaco is one of the largest exporters of pangasius — a medium-to-large freshwater catfish popularly used in Southeast Asian cooking — and operates in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta.

In the statement, Navis Capital noted that Godaco had access to key markets in China, Europe, South America, the Middle East and other parts of Southeast Asia with its in-house feed mill, farm, primary and value-added processing plants and cold storage facilities.

“Godaco has evolved from a medium-sized pangasius processor to a leading and fully integrated seafood company with globally competitive quality and pricing,” said Navis Capital managing partner Datuk Seri Nicholas Bloy.

The transaction is the latest by the private equity firm that manages over US$5 billion (RM21.05 billion) in assets following March’s disposal of its stake in the operator of Everrise supermarkets in Sabah and Sarawak to Grab Holdings Inc.

Navis Capital mainly invests in Southeast Asia and its surrounding markets. In Malaysia, Navis Capital’s current investments include durian exporter Hernan Corporation Sdn Bhd and hospital operator Aurelius Healthcare. 

Through its investments, Godaco’s operational capabilities have grown "substantially” as it provided additional primary processing, by-product processing and state-of-the-art cooking facility to produce ready-to-cook meals, which helped its farm expansion, Navis Capital added.