Saving Seafood

Massive Alaska cod merger is all lined up

September 20, 2019 — Alaska’s Bristol Bay Native Corp. is set to take over a large chunk of the state’s freezer longline Pacific cod quota with the pending purchase of a newly merged Clipper Seafoods and Blue North Fisheries.

Last week, the Department of Justice approved the merger, and the corporation is expected finalize on Sept. 30 the purchase of a majority share of the new company.

“It’s exciting for us. When the opportunity presented itself about a year ago, we had already been looking for seafood investments for a couple of years. Having an opportunity to acquire these businesses and what they represent is a big deal for BBNC,” said Jason Metrokin, the president and CEO of Bristol Bay Native Corp.

The DOJ reviewed the merger to ensure it would not create a monopoly in Alaska’s freezer-longline Pacific cod fishery. The two processors control 37.4 percent of the total allowable catch in the fishery, with Clipper managing 20 percent of the harvest, and Blue North handling 17.4 percent.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Bristol Bay Native Corporation acquiring Blue North and Clipper

September 17, 2019 — Bristol Bay Native Corporation (BBNC) is planning to acquire Blue North Fisheries and Clipper Seafoods, making it a major player in the Bering Sea longline cod fishery. The acquisition also gets BBNC, former owner of Peter Pan Seafoods, back into the industry.

The acquisition will close on 30 September, and Blue North and Clipper Seafoods will be organized under Bristol Bay Alaska Seafoods, a newly-formed subsidiary of BBNC.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Analysis: Alaska’s Native corporations, once shy of seafood, may now view it as the next frontier

September 13, 2019 — Most seafood industry members have likely never heard of Alaska’s Native Corporations, but with the news this week that Bristol Bay Native Corporation (BBNC) was cleared by the US Department of Justice to acquire and merge Pacific cod giants Blue North Fisheries and Clipper Seafoods, most people will know about them soon enough.

The deal, which is expected to close as early as next week, a source familiar with the process told IntraFish, would create a group with roughly 33,000 metric tons of owned Pacific cod quota, another 13,000 metric tons for management or lease, and $95 million in revenues.

Alaska’s Native Corporations have plenty of assets, and are much, much bigger than you might expect. Alaska’s 12 Native Corporations, created under a federal law in 1971 called the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, employ 58,000 people worldwide, according to the Alaska Resource Development Council. They are the state’s largest landowners, and combined corporate revenues for the companies is estimated at over $8 billion.

Read the full story at IntraFish

DOJ green lights Clipper, Blue North merger

September 12, 2019 — The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has greenlit a proposed merger between the two largest Pacific cod longline companies, sources told Undercurrent News.

The DOJ review of the merger of Clipper Seafoods and Blue North, which is expected to include the Bristol Bay Native Corporation (BBNC) taking a majority stake in the combined company, was undertaken to ensure that the combined company wouldn’t create a monopoly. Sources told Undercurrent that the DOJ’s seal of approval means that the deal is likely to close this week.

Despite the combined company’s heft in the market, Clipper and Blue North argued that there are several factors that go into cod prices, like other species, “so there shouldn’t be any antitrust problems”, sources previously told Undercurrent.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Largest Pacific cod catchers look to hook investor for fleet renewal, not sell up

October 12, 2018 — Clipper Seafoods and Blue North Fisheries’ shareholders are looking for an investor in a combined business to help finance a renewal of the fleet, but not for anyone to take a majority stake, sources familiar with their thinking told Undercurrent News.

The owners of Clipper and Blue North, the two largest US Pacific cod longline companies, are looking for an investor to come in and take a significant share of a combined company, “even up to 49.9%”, as one put it, but they’re not interested in getting out of the business. Part of the reason for seeking investment is fleet renewal, sources told Undercurrent.

In late August, Undercurrent reported the two had brought in Zachary Scott, a Seattle, Washington-based mergers and acquisitions advisory firm, to advise on a possible sale. Sources said a full sale could be a possible outcome, depending on the price, but it is not the preference of the shareholders, who want to stay involved.

Zachary Scott, which did not respond to a request for comment from Undercurrent, has sent an information memorandum on the combined companies to over 30 trade and investor players, sources said.

Dave Little, the main shareholder in Clipper, and Michael and Patrick Burns, who control Blue North, all pioneers of the longline fishery in Alaska, did not respond to a request for comment from Undercurrent.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News