Miami, Florida, U.S.A.-headquartered Blue Star Foods Corp. recently inked a term sheet to acquire Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada-based Taste of BC Aquafarms, Inc., a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) operation specializing in salmon production.
The acquisition is being conducted through a combination of cash, equity, and assumption of debt, the companies said. The transaction, which is subject to certain closing conditions, is expected to wrap in the first quarter of 2021. Term specifics of the deal were not disclosed.
What land-based salmon farming can offer in terms of environmental repair and feeding a growing global population has made the sector attractive to Blue Star, according to company chairman and CEO John Keeler.
“We believe land-based salmon farming can be part of the solution of healing our environment and will meet the gap between the growing global demand of salmon and a supply that is limited by its environmental impact, as well as geographical and governmental constraints,” Keeler said in a press release.
Established in 2010, Taste of BC Aquafarms is owned and operated by the Atkinson family, “pioneers in RAS farming,” Keeler said.
“They’ve built a proven and scalable model and we are excited to strategically fund their next level of growth and use our sales platform to market their delicious, sashimi-grade, steelhead salmon,” he said.
Taste of BC Aquafarms President Steve Atkinson explained the RAS company’s strategy moving forward with Blue Star.
“We are delighted to be joining Blue Star Foods through this acquisition. From the beginning, I wanted to create a RAS model that we could easily replicate in multiple locations, with predictable outcomes, and leave a legacy of a new Industry of land-based salmon production in British Columbia and beyond,” Atkinson said. “We took a different approach than others in developing RAS for salmon production. First, we wanted to develop a proven, successful culture system, and now we are looking to deploy this system in multiples. Our modular design strategy works and is highly scalable. I see no reason why the RAS salmon production in B.C. cannot potentially exceed 100,000 metric tons annual production in the next two decades. Along with Blue Star, we intend to be leaders in this new industry.”
On behalf of Blue Star Foods, Newbridge Securities Corporation is acting as the executive M&A advisor, with The Crone Law Group serving as the firm’s legal counsel.
Both companies view RAS technology as disruptive and non-invasive, and see it reshaping the seafood industry over the next several decades. The method avoids some of the pitfalls that face other salmon sourcing practices, they said, including:
- Fish harvested in open environments increasingly contain small traces of plastic.
- Conventional salmon farming in open net pens is increasingly problematic and is losing social license in many jurisdictions.
- Current sourcing locations are not logistically efficient and can lead to increased greenhouse gas emissions through air freight.
