Alliance Select buying 80% of NZ salmon firm

Seafood producer Alliance Select Foods International Inc. has entered into a $2.18-million deal to acquire 80 percent of Akaroa Salmon NZ Ltd., a pioneer in salmon farming in New Zealand.

The move is in line with Alliance’s bid to become a major salmon producer in the region.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday, Alliance said its board had approved the acquisition of the New Zealand-based salmon marine farmer and processor of fresh and smoked salmon. The share purchase agreement is expected to be signed by August.

Alliance has committed to invest another $100,000 for the working capital needs of Akaroa, the only remaining privately owned salmon farm in New Zealand.

“It is an iconic brand name which can be found on the menus of very high-end restaurants,” Alliance president and CEO Jonathan Dee told stockholders.

Before closing this transaction, Alliance plans to raise funds from a private placement via the offering of authorized but unissued shares. It will issue 60.67 million shares at P1.60 each resulting in a 5.67-percent dilution of existing shareholders’ interests.

Dee told stockholders that this deal fulfilled the company’s objective of becoming an integrated salmon producer.

Akaroa was valued at $3.5 million. The 20 percent stake that Alliance did not buy would be kept by Duncan Bates, son of Akaroa’s founder, who will continue his role as general manager of the company.

Akaroa is a thriving producer of high-end salmon. The company operates two marine farms along Akaroa Harbor in New Zealand’s South Island. Its processing facilities are located at the Riccaton district of Christchurch. It also holds a 20-percent stake in Salmon Smolt NZ Ltd., a modern hatchery that supplies smolts or juvenile salmon for Akaroa’s farms.