THE family who have been at the heart of one of the EU's largest shellfish producers since its formation stand to get nearly £50 million after agreeing a sale of the Scots firm to a Canadian seafood firm.

Clearwater Seafoods will pay £98.4m for the Peterhead-based Macduff Shellfish Group, which is jointly owned by the Beaton family from Aberdeenshire and private equity fund Change Capital Partners.

It is the end of an era for a firm that has its roots in the 1880s when the Scottish herring industry was at its height and John Beaton started trading in white fish.

His descendants had until now continued to be at the core of Macduff Shellfish which today specialises in scallops, langoustine, whelk and crab.

In the 1980s the family started to process and export langoustine in the coastal town of Macduff, from where they took the company name in 1985, but soon outgrew the site and moved to a new plant in Mintlaw in 1996.

It was run by Euan Beaton, who was chairman and his brothers Paul and Fergus – with the business exporting UK shellfish to continental Europe and the Far East, as well as supplying the British market.

It operates factories in Mintlaw, Stornoway and Exeter, 14 scallop harvesting vessels from its Dumfries facility and employs about 400 people at seasonal peaks.

Under the deal Macduff will retain its name and operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Clearwater, sharing resources and best practice between the businesses.

Euan Beaton will now become Macduff president and managing director Roy Cunningham will assume the role of vice president.

Paul and Fergus Beaton, who had taken a less of a prominent role in the business in recent times, will be leaving the business.

Nova Scotia-based Clearwater is one of North America's largest seafood companies, employing about 1,400 people.

Macduff said the deal would bring the company access to new markets, investment and opportunities for growth.

Euan Beaton said: "Having reached our goal of building a £52m business, we had one suitor in mind which shares our vision and values to enable us to accelerate our growth on a global scale.

"This deal is great news for our operations in the UK, bringing investment and access to new markets within an extremely successful and respected business.

"It provides learning and development opportunities for our staff as we share best practice with Clearwater and it gives fishermen access to more markets."

A 2011 buyout of the Macduff business, currently celebrating its 30th year, by senior bosses and new investors under the name MSG was worth £34.2m.

The company made pre-tax profits of £847,200 during the year to September 30, 2014, against losses of £1.5m in its previous accounting period from March 31, 2012 to September 30, 2013.

Turnover for 2013/14 came in at £46.2m, against £55.9m in the longer 2012/13 period.

Ian Smith, chief executive of Clearwater said: "Our companies have been building a working relationship for more than three years and we are confident Macduff represents a highly attractive investment with a strong strategic fit for Clearwater.”