Trident Seafoods Corp. has terminated its USD 4.35 million (EUR 3.22 million) acquisition of ailing Wrangell Seafoods (WSI).
In a 12 March letter to WSI chairman Douglas Roberts, Trident President Paul Padgett said WSI failed to disclose that a labor union - the United Industrial, Service, Transportation, Professional and Government Workers' Alaska Fisheries Division - had accused it of violating the National Labor Relations Act and that it had failed to respond to the complaint in a timely manner. The letter said that Trident may inherit the complaint should it purchase WSI's Wrangell, Alaska, processing plant.
"Having expended so much time, money and effort in this transaction, Trident is disappointed in the outcome," said Padgett. "Given the uncertainties, Trident must move forward with alternative arrangement for the upcoming season."
The acquisition, originally announced in mid-February, was due to close by 20 March, just in time to begin preparations for the upcoming salmon season.
WSI filed for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Anchorage, Alaska, in mid-January.
The company processes primarily salmon but also handles king, tanner and Dungeness crab, shrimp, halibut, roe herring, rockfish and sea cucumbers. It is held by more than 20 shareholders representing a cross-section of the seafood industry, from fishermen to local businessmen, according to the company's Web site.
The company's roots date to 1956 when Harbor Seafoods was formed in Wrangell. Harbor Seafoods was purchased by the Alaska Pulp Corp. in 1974 and sold again to J.S. McMillan Fisheries Ltd. in 1984, when it was renamed Wrangell Fisheries.
March 25, 2009
