Bumble Bee Seafoods generates annual sales of approximately $1 billion.

BANGKOK, THAILAND — Thai Union Frozen Products, a processor of shelf-stable tuna products and marketer of the Chicken of the Sea brand in the United States, has entered into an agreement to acquire Bumble Bee Seafoods for $1.51 billion. The companies expect the transaction to close in the second half of 2015.

“The deal is the largest acquisition in the history of our company and one of the most exciting external growth propositions,” said Thiraphong Chansiri, president and chief executive officer of Thai Union Frozen Products. “Upon completion, the transaction will be immediately accretive to T.U.F.’s earnings and cash flows and will increase T.U.F.’s group revenues by approximately 25%.”

Bumble Bee Seafoods, based in San Diego, generates annual sales of approximately $1 billion. In 2014, the company will record an estimated EBITDA of $145 million, according to Thai Union. The company has a workforce of more than 1,300 who produce and sell canned, pouched and frozen seafood products across the United States and Canada.

“Thai Union has been present in the United States for over 17 years, and this acquisition is a sign of the company’s continued commitment to the second largest seafood market in the world,” said Shue Wing Chan, c.e.o. of Chicken of the Sea. “We are a strategic investor with a long-term view of the market. We believe that, together, we will be able to reinvigorate the canned seafood category in North America.”