Tri Marine Fish Company has announced the pending sale of its San Pedro fish processing facility, located in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. to Silver Bay Seafoods has been canceled.
First announced in October 2018, the transaction would have given Silver Bay unloading and processing facilities in both Northern and Southern California, which the company called “a strategic growth move,” in its press release at the time.
In a 30 July update, Tri Marine and Silver Bay said they “have mutually agreed to cease further discussions regarding Silver Bay’s acquisition of the coastal pelagic processing plant in San Pedro, California.”
The plant is owned by Renato Curto, the owner of Tri Marine, who agreed to sell its global tuna operations to Bolton Group earlier this month. In the deal, Curto retained ownership Cape Fisheries Holdings, a former subsidiary of Tri Marine. Additionally, the San Pedro facility, located on Terminal Island, in the Port of Los Angeles, will remain under the control and management of Curto, according to the 30 July press release.
“I have always loved this plant and my team in San Pedro,” Curto said. “I now have an opportunity to focus on this important segment of our business. Its strategic location, top fishing fleet, and reputation for quality reinforce our commitment to the California wetfish fishing and processing community.”
The plant is capable of freezing up to 300 metric tons of squid, sardines, mackerel, and tuna, according to Brie Adderley, a spokesperson for the companies. The plant is supplied by three vessels owned and operated by Renato’s fishing company, Cape Fisheries Holdings, and by a few other local boats contracted to the plant, Adderley said.
Production at the facility “was not affected in any way during these discussions,” and the plant will continue its usual operations following the cancellation of its sale, Adderley told SeafoodSource.
“There will be no changes at this time and the facility will remain under Renato’s management and ownership,” she said.
Curto believes the plant remains a viable business proposition due to its “strategic location in the middle of the Port of Los Angeles, the facility’s modernized capacity, and our dedicated staff, [which] enables this facility to cost-effectively load/unload, freeze, package and export seafood,” Adderley said.
Tri Marine, Curto, and Silver Bay “mutually came to the decision not to move forward after several months of talks,” and the parties “have agreed not to disclose the details of those discussions,” she said.
Silver Bay Seafoods President and CEO Cora Campbell, who was appointed in January – after the sale had been agreed to – blamed bad timing for the deal’s collapse.
“We have great respect for the team at this facility and admire the quality and efficiency of its operations,” Campbell said. “While the time was not right to complete the acquisition, the Silver Bay Seafoods team looks forward to continuing our existing operations in California.”
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