Blacks Harbour NB Canada: Cooke Aquaculture is pleased to announce the closing of its deal with Marine Harvest for the purchase of its fully owned subsidiary, Meridian Salmon Farms Limited. Meridian is a leading Scottish salmon farming company with assets in Shetland, Orkney and the mainland of Scotland.
“We believe this investment in the well respected Scottish industry creates value for our entire group and strengthens our European foothold, which already includes Culmarex, our sea bass and bream farming company in Spain,” said CEO Glenn Cooke.
“The company is highly profitable and is a cost effective producer with a dedicated management team and employee base. We will build on their experience and expertise as we further strengthen and grow this company as Cooke Aquaculture Scotland.”
“We are fortunate that there are many similarities between our corporate cultures and the high environmental standard of our farming operations. Members of the Cooke team will work together with our highly qualified management in Scotland to develop an operational and marketing strategy for the future. It will be business as usual during this transition period.”
This transaction is consistent with Cooke Aquaculture’s focus on vertical integration and diversification in terms of geography, products and markets. Cooke’s strategy has been to achieve growth through acquisitions and organic growth that is both sustainable and responsibly managed to meet a growing market demand for healthy, fresh seafood.
Cooke Aquaculture Inc. is a Canadian family-owned company with a head office in Black’s Harbour New Brunswick Canada and North American salmon farming operations in Atlantic Canada and Maine. It also owns Salmones Cupquelan, a salmon farming company in southern Chile and Culmarex, a sea bass and sea bream farming company in southern Spain. Over the past twenty-eight years Glenn Cooke and his family have built a fully integrated aquaculture company, which will have nearly a billion dollars in annual sales and 2500 employees in 2014.
Contact: Nell Halse, VP Communications nhalse@cookeaqua.com 1-506-694-4908
Source: Cooke Aquaculture Inc.
