Two Kailis brothers have reportedly left the seafood processing business founded by their Rich List family, three years after selling a majority stake to Chinese-owned Legend Holdings.

The departures of Matthew and George Kailis was announced in a note on Monday from KB Food International Holdings, the joint venture formed to take control of Kailis Bros, seafood industry publication Undercurrent News reported.

It quoted the note as saying chief financial officer David Bonomini had taken over from Matthew Kailis as Perth-based chief executive, while Tim Storey had become general manager of the company’s east coast division.

George Kailis previously oversaw the east coast operations.

WestBusiness was unable to contact Matthew or George Kailis. Kailis Bros in Perth did not respond to inquiries.

They are still listed as directors of KB Food International on the register of the corporate regulator. The family’s wealth was estimated at $417 million in the WA 2018 Rich List published by The West Australian.

Kailis Bros in March 2016 sold 90 per cent of its seafood processing, wholesale and export business to the Chinese conglomerate Legend.

The purchase price was undisclosed but believed to be higher than $100 million. Legend took on $180 million debt to fund the deal.

Legend is best known for owning the world’s biggest personal computer maker, Lenovo.

The deal did not include Kailis Bros’ Leederville restaurant or the retail outlet near the Perth Fish Markets, which are still owned by the family.

The group buys and handles about 70 per cent of all commercial fish caught in WA.

The sale attracted criticism within the industry for setting an “alarming” precedent for foreign ownership of the industry.

In fiscal 2017, KB Food International reported to the corporate regulator a trebling of net profit from the year before to $11 million. Revenue was up 51 per cent to $436 million.

It had total equity of $104 million.

The family name has been synonymous with seafood in the State since grandfather George Peter Kailis founded a fish shop in Barrack Street in 1926.

The company is understood to have this year joined the other WA crayfishers in rejecting a McGowan Government plan to partly nationalise the industry.

The Government dropped the policy.