A new report in ProPublica, produced in partnership with the Northern Journal and the Anchorage Daily News, found an Alaskan public fund lost more than USD 29 million (EUR 27 million) on a deal that helped Rodger May purchase Peter Pan Seafoods.
The investigation centered around investments made by the Alaska Permanent Fund, an USD 80 billion (EUR 76 billion) savings account used by the state to provide residents with dividends. The fund was created with oil and mining revenue, and leadership at the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation – a state-owned entity – worked to manage those assets and build its value.
According to ProPublica, one of those investments was in McKinley Capital Management, which then used a portion of that investment on Peter Pan. That money, totaling over USD 29 million, was a casualty in Peter Pan Seafoods’ bankruptcy in 2024.
Peter Pan Seafoods was pushed into receivership by Wells Fargo Bank, the single biggest lender to the company, in April 2024. That push came after Peter Pan was dealing with liens from fishermen and struggling to the point it was forced to close its King Cove seafood-processing facility for the 2024 “A” pollock season.
“We are saddened to inform our fishermen and the King Cove community that Peter Pan Seafood will not be able to operate our King Cove facility for the 2024 A Season. This is an unfortunate but temporary step,” the company said in a 12 January 2024 press release.
That “temporary step” ended up being more permanent than the company thought, and the King Cove facility is still sitting unused over a year after Peter Pan first closed it.
According to the report in ProPublica, McKinley Capital Management’s venture in Peter Pan started thanks to a partnership between it, former Peter Pan Owner Rodger May, and Los Angeles, California-based RRG Capital Management. The three groups purchased Peter Pan Seafoods from former owner Maruha Nichiro – which took a USD 27.9 million (EUR 26.5 million) loss on the sale – in November 2020.
The plan was to have a Washington-based fish company owned by May merge with Peter Pan, after which May would take on a leadership role. According to ProPublica financial projections, the three partners projected the investment would double in value by 2026.
However, ProPublica also found that McKinley Capital Management and RRG Capital Management had incomplete information about ...
