Cargill, Wichita, Kan., is ushering in a new era in meeting the world's demand for protein with the acquisition of EWOS, a Norway-based leader in salmon nutrition. In August, Cargill entered into an agreement with Altor Fund III and Bain Capital Europe III to acquire EWOS.

The acquisition makes Cargill's animal nutrition business a leading player in the growing salmon feed industry.

"The combination of Cargill and EWOS is a fantastic, long-term growth story," says Joe Stone, Cargill corporate vice president. "We are creating the global leader in aquaculture nutrition, enabling world-class R&D, delivering innovative products and solutions and creating opportunities for the industry, our customers and our employees through shared values that will propel our growth."

Einar Wathne, EWOS chief executive officer, will continue in his leadership role under Cargill ownership and assume responsibility as president of Cargill Aqua Nutrition.

"Through our joined efforts, we will bring together the world's leading talent in research, nutrition and sustainable innovation to develop nutrition solutions that enable farmers to continue to grow their supply of healthy seafood, improve food production efficiency and reduce their impact on the environment," Wathne says. "Under Cargill ownership, we will continue to have a significant presence in Norway, Chile and our other countries across the world. Norway and Chile are the globally leading salmon markets where we have built sophisticated competence and state of the art research centers."

Cargill will now have an additional 1,000 employees across seven feed manufacturing facilities—three in Norway, and one each in Chile, Canada, Scotland and Vietnam, as well as two state-of-the-art R&D centers in Norway and Chile. EWOS produces more than 1.2 million metric tons of salmon feed for salmon producers worldwide.