InnovaSea Systems has purchased a Canadian company that officials from the Boston-based firm said will help it build upon its aquaculture base.
Financial terms for acquiring Amirix Systems, a deal which InnovaSea announced on Thursday, 30 November, were not released.
Created in 2015, InnovaSea designs open-ocean aquaculture systems and helps farmers by developing environmentally focused and sustainable technologies for fish farmers.
Amirix is the parent corporation of several fishing industry companies. Both Vemco and HTI-Vemco market tracking solutions for fisheries researchers around the world. In addition, Realtime Aquaculture focuses on developing environmental monitoring solutions for fish farms. Amirix’s companies specialize in using acoustic technology to transmit information underwater.
“The combination of InnovaSea’s aquaculture instrumentation and Amirix’s sensors, architecture, and established products will provide a complete integrated solution for monitoring aquaculture farms,” InnovaSea Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer David Kelly said. “With Amirix joining the InnovaSea family, we have increased talent, products and capabilities to meet the needs of our customers.”
Kelly said he believes the merger will create aquaculture technology that will be a game changer for ocean conservancy and food security.
In April, the company announced it secured a USD 15 million (EUR 12.6 million) investment from Cuna del Mar to develop an all-inclusive open ocean fish farming system scheduled for a 2018 roll out.
Cuna del Mar is a private equity firm that owns a majority stake in InnovaSea. It focuses on open-ocean aquaculture projects and is run by the Walton family, which founded Walmart.
“With the addition of Amirix and its products and technologies, we can accelerate our development of sustainable offshore aquaculture systems and simultaneously support the research and understanding of wild fish populations,” Cuna del Mar CEO Robert Orr said.
Amirix will change its name to InnovaSea Marine Systems Canada Inc. and will remain based in Bedford, Nova Scotia. Its CEO called InnovaSea “a natural partner” for the company.
“It’s evident to us that InnovaSea values and recognizes the expertise of our people and the world-class quality of our production facility right here in Nova Scotia,” Amirix President and CEOMark Jollymore said. “Our operations in Bedford and Seattle will continue to grow as hubs of innovation for aquaculture and fish tracking.”
