Cooke is purchasing the salmon-farming operations of Mowi Canada East, the two companies announced on 30 June.
The two companies announced they have entered a share purchase agreement, which will see Cooke acquire Mowi’s Atlantic Canada operations for CAD 225 million (USD 158 million, EUR 138 million) on a debt-free basis. Mowi said its current operations in Mowi Canada East comprise 9,000 gross weight tons (GWT) of standing biomass.
With the agreement, Canada East will be booked as held for sale by Mowi until the closing of regulatory approvals and due diligence by Cooke, which Mowi said should take place some time in the second half of 2026.
“This is an exciting growth opportunity for our Atlantic Canada operations,” Cooke CEO Glenn Cooke said in a release. “We look forward to welcoming Mowi Canada East’s 250 employees to Cooke and working together to grow the sector and sustainably farm Atlantic salmon for customers in this region and beyond.”
Mowi said the sale of the facility will reduce its volume guidance from 605,000 GWT to 600,000 GWT in 2026, and in connection with the transaction, Mowi will take a write-down of roughly CAD 140 million (USD 98 million, EUR 86 million). The company has operations in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador, including freshwater hatcheries, sea farming sites, and two processing plants.
“Cooke is committed to growing the sector and continuing to invest in the region’s rural coastal communities,” Cooke said. “Our immediate objectives will be to stabilize and reinvest in the operations through synergies with our existing farming operations across Atlantic Canada.”
The company said finfish aquaculture currently employs over 9,400 people in Atlantic Canada and generates CAD 3.2 billion (USD 2.2 billion, EUR 1.9 billion) in economic output.
Cooke has been working to expand its operations in Canada and has applied for multiple site expansions at its Nova Scotia operations. A review board approved one expansion in February, and the company recently applied for another expansion, according to local media.
Mowi, meanwhile, has struggled at its Canada East salmon-farming operations in recent years, and the company reported a die-off of 10 percent of its Little Burdock Cove site in Newfoundland, Canada, in July 2025 before announcing another die-off of 400,000 fish across its Broad Cove, Harvey Hill East, and Harvey Hill South sites in September 2025. It then confirmed another mortality event in October 2025, which included extended mortality across multiple farms.
