Mickey MacDonald has snuffed out the possibility of a Cooke Aquaculture Inc. takeover of Clearwater Seafood Inc.
The Halifax entrepreneur has purchased 5,591,575 or 11 per cent of Clearwater’s common shares from two different Cooke-related entities at $3.30 a share. The $18.45 million buy gives MacDonald 20.8 per cent of Clearwater’s outstanding shares.
With his brother Colin MacDonald and John Risley — the two co-founders of Clearwater — the trio own 69.1 per cent of the Bedford-based seafood outfit.
“It’s a good feeling,” Mickey MacDonald said Monday.
“We don’t want to have that threat hanging over our heads of another hostile takeover.”
The deal brings security for Clearwater staffers, as the proposed Cooke takeover could have resulted in layoffs, he said.
“There is always that underlying fear,” MacDonald said.
“So this will let our people be more focused without any distractions.”
Cooke Aquaculture said Monday it made the decision this year to sell its Clearwater shares and to apply the funds to further investments aligned with its core business.
“We have always respected Clearwater and its owners” Glenn Cooke, chief executive officer of Cooke Aquaculture, said in a written statement.
“Our business decision to sell our shares in no way reflects a change in our admiration for this company and its significant leadership in Atlantic Canada’s valuable seafood sector.”
Mickey MacDonald said he’s met with Glenn Cooke and the two companies haven’t ruled out working together down the road.
“There are still synergies that we may work towards in the future with him,” MacDonald said.
Cooke is the largest fully integrated and independent salmon farming company in North America with more than 2200 employees and operations in Atlantic Canada, Maine, Chile and Spain. It generates more than $570 million in sales.
The New Brunswick-based Cooke launched a takeover bid for Clearwater in July of 2011 that was rejected by Clearwater’s board in September of last year.
Cooke had offered $3.50 for units in Clearwater, which converted from an income fund to a corporation in October of 2011.
The stock’s 52-week low came in February 2012, when shares were trading for $1.85.
Clearwater shares were trading Monday for $3.75 on the Toronto Stock Exchange around noon Monday, up a nickel from the previous close, which had been its 52-week high.
