Press Release - Samir Bendriss joins Seafood People U.S. team

Bergen, Norway: 07 January 2025

Seafood People, the executive recruitment and management consulting firm dedicated to the seafood industry, is pleased to announce that Samir Bendriss has joined the U.S. team to drive new growth in the market. Samir will be adding his breadth of experience across corporate strategy, M&A, capital markets, and operations to assist client needs of driving profitability and growth.

Most recently, Bendriss served as Chief Strategy Officer at the world’s largest independent salmon processor. In this role, he led the effort to optimize the company’s U.S. growth strategy, which included identifying ways to improve profitability and fuel growth through exploring M&A and organic growth opportunities.

His background includes leading the Securities Research teams at Pareto Securities and ABG Sundal Collier, where he covered the Seafood sector. In addition, he was an Investment Banking Director and Board Member at Pareto Securities, where he led M&A and capital markets transactions for public and private companies globally. He has significant expertise in leading due diligence, deal structuring, financial modeling, valuation, and negotiation. His experience also encompasses Management Consulting at McKinsey & Co, where he advised international blue-chip companies on Corporate Strategy and Finance. 

In addition to his advisory and transactional roles, Bendriss has demonstrated operational excellence as a Private Equity CEO, where he led acquisition and turnaround efforts. He managed initiatives to improve corporate strategy, operations, profitability, capital allocation, as well as spearheading corporate rebranding efforts. His project management accomplishments include leading a project to build a $120 million greenfield seafood processing plant in the U.S., encompassing, strategy development, financial modeling, profitability analysis, site selection and negotiation with state economic development teams, plant design, equipment selection, process optimization, and financing.

A Norwegian native, Samir completed his Masters from the Norwegian School of Management (BI Sandvika) with a specialization in finance.  He currently resides in the Los Angeles area.

Thomas Bakke, Seafood People’s Managing Director said: "Samir Bendriss is a remarkable leader with a proven ability to deliver transformative results. His strategic vision and operational expertise are perfectly aligned with our mission to provide exceptional value to our clients in the seafood industry. We are thrilled to welcome him to the team.”

Press contacts

Thomas Bakke, Managing Director, Mobile: +47 416 18 060 / tb@seafoodpeople.net