Two large hedge funds that purchased a sizable portion of the outstanding debt owed by China Fishery Group (CFG) are among those pushing for a creditor-led takeover of the bankrupt Peruvian fishmeal and fish oil producer due to dissatisfaction with the ongoing sale process.

The US funds — Davidson Kempner Capital Management and Monarch Alternative Capital — are leaders among a group of seven senior creditors known as the ‘ad hoc group’ (AHG) that are proposing an alternative resolution to the five-year-old bankruptcy case.

Instead of selling off CFG to a seafood company or investment fund as trustee William Brandt has long proposed, the ad hoc group’s debt-for-equity swap plan would see senior creditors lead CFG out of bankruptcy, operate it for an undetermined period and only then prepare for its eventual transfer in a sale or initial public offering process, sources told Undercurrent News.

Brandt “has been trying to sell the business for going on four years and hasn’t been successful to date. There’s a limit to people’s patience”, a source familiar with the AHG plan told Undercurrent.

CFG is widely seen as the most profitable asset of Hong Kong’s Pacific Andes International Holdings (PAIH), once the world’s 12th-largest seafood company by sales. In late 2016, several large banks that had lent to PAIH and CFG told a US bankruptcy court that they had found over $1 billion in “questionable transactions” and “substantial” fabrications of revenue and payments on the company’s books.

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The global COVID-19 pandemic has been a mixed bag for the seafood industry, with retailers notching record seafood sales and the category as a whole seeing gains, even as the foodservice industry virtually collapsed.

That downturn is expected to change direction this year, with foodservice operators optimistic about 2021. Seafood company CEOs and advisors, speaking during the National Fisheries lnstitute’s Global Seafood Market Conference’s economic outlook panel, also expressed optimism about the industry’s recovery. While in the short-term the rebound may be slight, as trend experts have predicted, once relative normalcy returns demand could see a big boost.

“I think the euphoria of people once we get through this is going to be incredible [and] we’re going to see a fast and quick recovery,” Cooke Aquaculture CEO Glenn Cooke said during the panel.

Due to travel restrictions, office closures, and lockdowns, most people haven’t been able to enjoy the restaurant experiences they’re familiar with for months. Cooke and other panel members predicted that will cause a sharp rebound once things reopen.

“As soon as they are vaccinated or in some cases earlier, as the warm weather comes, people are going to escape the cage,” Antarctica Advisors LLC Managing Partner Ignacio Kleiman said.

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One of the largest seafood sector deals in recent memory has officially closed.

The CAD 1 billion ($788 million) buyout of Canadian shellfish harvester Clearwater Seafoods by Premium Brands Holdings and a coalition of First Nations is now complete, Clearwater said in a press release.

In January, 99.89% of Clearwater shareholders voted for the deal, which will see food group Premium and the coalition of Mi’kmaq First Nations’ joint venture, FNC Holdings, acquire Clearwater at CAD 8.25 a share. The MacDonald brothers Colin and Mickey as well as John Risley previously owned over 60% of the company collectively.

“We are very excited to have a world-class seafood company like Clearwater join our ecosystem,”said George Paleologou, president and CEO of Premium Brands, in a statement.

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Maruha Nichiro, the world’s largest seafood company, has finalized the sale of Alaska seafood processor Peter Pan Seafoods, sources familiar with the deal told IntraFish on Monday.

Tokyo-based Maruha Nichiro announced in November it reached a deal to sell the company to an investment group including Alaska-based private equity group McKinley Capital Management and Rodger May, the former owner of Washington State salmon farms now owned by Cooke Aquaculture. The deal closed Dec. 31.

Maruha said at the time it expected a loss of roughly $27.9 million (€23.9 million) on the sale, after several months of unsuccessful efforts to sell the group.

Maruha began the sales process for Peter Pan Seafoods earlier this year, following a dismal 2019 Alaska salmon season. Last year’s salmon season was also a challenge for the group as competition continued to intensify in the state.

Ignacio Kleiman, managing partner at Antarctica Advisors, which is handling the sale, declined to comment on the sale to IntraFish.

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November 11, 2020.  Clearwater Seafoods Inc. (TSX:CLR) has entered into a definitive agreement with a coalition of Mi’kmaq First Nations and Premium Brands Holdings Corp (TSX:PBH) for the acquisition of all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Clearwater and the units issued under various equity compensation plans for $8.25 per share in a transaction valued at approximately C$ 1.0 billion, including debt. The transaction price represents a 60.2% premium to Clearwater’s average volume-weighted price for the 20-day period preceding the strategic review announcement on March 5, 2020. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021 following the completion of pending shareholder and regulatory approvals.

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