Cooke Aquaculture Inc. will double sea bass production in Spain this year, while actively seeking an acquisition in Chile, spokeswoman Nell Halse said Monday.
Financing to the tune of $250-million to cover the growth will come through the privately-held company’s bankers, after the company dropped a plan to raise the required cash through a bond sale, Halse said.
“We considered the bond route, but in the final analysis the bank rate was better,” she said.
Halse said the decision to turn to the banks for funds to cover expansion plans in Spain and Chile was unrelated to any poor publicity the firm endured in Nova Scotia in February about some contaminated salmon.
There was controversy at that time when the Canadian Food Inspection Agency approved some fish with infectious salmon anemia for human consumption.
The Blacks Harbour, N.B.-based company can obtain better financing rates from its own banks than through the bond market, Halse said. Companies often raise capital by selling bonds. “We received a good rating from the bond ratings company, which was part of the process. In fact, it was a very good rating, considering this was the first time we’d asked for one,” she said.
Halse said bank financing will back an ambitious build-out of sea bass infrastructure in the south of Spain, and a significant acquisition in Chile.
Cooke Aquaculture closed late in 2012 on the purchase of some assets from a major aquaculture operation in Spain, and will invest in infrastructure required to double sea bass production at these locations in 2013.
The company already owns salmon farms in Chile and wants to build a fully-integrated system in that country that includes processing, Halse said.
“Prices for farmed salmon were down in Chile for a number of years, but are up recently by about 40 per cent,” she said.
Cooke Aquaculture is also increasing production in Nova Scotia. First harvests are anticipated in a month or two at two St. Mary’s Bay open-pen salmon farms.
The company is in the process of hiring about 30 people for its aquaculture operations near Shelburne, Halse said.
