Evidently the sale of bankrupt processor Wrangell Seafoods Inc. to Trident Seafoods Corp. of Seattle is complete.
I still haven't seen anything official, such as a company press release, but a "receipt from proceeds of sale" was filed yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Anchorage.
The receipt is for $4.3 million.
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12 comments:
One more AK company down and another WA company taking $ out of the state!!
Does anyone give a darn that more seafood dollars go to WA from AK than stay in the state.
A good way to keep the state relying on oil money.
RR
Yes, one more AK poorly ran, dilaitated, bankrupt company down, replaced by a successful, profitable, Wa company that will be able to take a piece of crap plant and turn it into a Cash cow for the city of Wrangell. Does anyone care that if it wasn't for those WA companies, nobody would be there to buy fish? What Alaska Companies have the wherewithall to buy all the salmon, just for starters,that Icicle, Trident and Peter Pan buy every season? Not many if any. They provide year round jobs, piles of raw fish tax, as well as donate and sponser for many local events and causes. Like many Alaskans, having grown up suckling on the oil teat, you have grown spoiled by wasteful poorly thought out legislation. All I can say, as the oil slowly runs out, is welcome to the real world.
Anonymous,
Trident is an amazing company that is vertically integrated, ran by the greatest Seafood Business Visionary of our time. I for one fully support the WSI acquisition as it well help friends and family keep their jobs in Wrangell, fishermen fishing, and additional capacity for their existing fleet.
Grabber,
The WSI plant is not a piece of crap, go see the plant, 6 brand new salmon lines, state of the art freezing system, redundancy abound, there is a reason why Trident bought the facility. The equipment alone is worth the acquisition price.
It's actually one more bankrupt U.S. Company, purchased by a U.S. Company that's not bankrupt.
Isn't it a great country, where freedom includes Bankruptcy, like some of the Great Alaska Bankrupt Seafood Specialists.
Take for instance Inlet Salmon, a Great Alaska Bankrupt Fish Co. that specialize, in Chapter 7, 11, 13, with full time retainers for bankruptcy lawyers, forever.
Todays new Baywatch! Bankruptcy Specialists forever.
Keep Watching, and another long Chapter of Bankruptcy, coming soon to a fishery near you!
Anonymous,
I understand you may make that assumption for other seafood companies, but WSI happened to be owned by individual shareholders, almost all from Wrangell. As for bankruptcy, it was WSI's only option due to weak pink salmon runs here in SE Alaska during a time where they invested huge sums of money into their plant, with literally no return on investment, or very little. They could not overcome the burden, so they filed.
Thank goodness a reputable company like Trident bought the plant and its assets, people who work there will still have their jobs, fishermen markets, and Wrangell raw fish tax.
Did anyone ever look at HOW all those WA companies got to be so profitable?
Check out the back door deals with Uncle Ted and all the other sweetheart goodies the state gave away.
Crab was just one of the most recent.
Look at that big white elephant Anchorage did, went into bankruptcy and then sold, despite higher offers from in state, to out of state businesses.
Millions in federal dollars that were funneled through AK for out of state companies.
It is a shame that another AK company could not have been the one to pick this up.
Less competition will only hurt the fishermen of AK not help.
ALS
Just for laughs, what is the largest AK based seafood processor?
That is not currently filed for bankruptcy. (I don't know)
Like this Alaska Based Fish Processor grabber? Troubling those United States Code's for the Alaska Fish Processor?
Dear Mr. Umphenour:
We inspected your seafood processing facility, located at 2400 Davis Road, Fairbanks, Alaska, on November 18, 29, 20, and 21, 2008. We found that you have serious violations of the seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulation, Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 123, and the Current Good Manufacturing Practice regulation for foods, Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 110 (21 CFR 123 & 110). In accordance with 21 CFR 123.6(g), failure of a processor of fish or fishery products to have and implement a HACCP plan that complies with this section or otherwise operate in accordance with the requirements of Part 123, including the sanitation control procedures under 21 CFR 123.11, renders the fish or fishery products adulterated within the meaning of Section 402(a)(4) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act), 21 U.S.C. § 342(a)(4). Accordingly, your hot and cold smoked fish products are adulterated, in that they have been prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby they may have been rendered injurious to health. You may find the Act, the seafood HACCP regulation, and the Fish and Fisheries Products Hazards & Controls Guidance through links in FDA's home page at www.fda.gov.
Those self evident truths could only confuse another Alaska Based Processing Company!
Too bad Grabber didn't know who all the investors were, like Privet & Bobby T. Trident had bought the canning line without permission years ago and had invested $110,000 quietly without any outsider's knowledge. Now they have it for a song. But then again, maybe Grabber knew all along who the investor really were.
All very interesting comments...
Back in 2006, the WSI Board of Directors hired a highly qualified CEO from Outside. He put together a team to totally renovate the old plant and move away from canning.
A plan was developed working with the city council, the State of Alaska and various federal agencies to totally modernize the facility. (sorry to a previous poster, but Uncle Ted had nothing to do with this)
A sound economic analysis and plan was presented, and a sub of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation loaned the bulk of the funds needed. The project was unnecessarily delayed by the then current mayor that had a personal beef with some of the ownership group. The project was put off schedule by several months with the new lines coming on stream in the middle of the 2007 season without all the freezer capacity completed.
The company was then hit with a poor salmon run for the 2008 season.
Cash is King... and the rest is history.
Wrangell, Alaska is a great community. These are strong people that have weathered so much over the years, when you consider the environmentalists shutting down their other industry, timber. Bankruptcy and this acquisition brings a new beginning and a solid jobs base.
Best of luck to all concerned...
To the previous poster on 5/6, you left out the part from 2007 when the owners sold the canning line equipment without the permission of the City of Wrangell, the legal owners of the facility to Trident Seafoods, what about that little detail? That is usually called FRAUD, selling something you don't own.
And of all the fishermen who sold their catch, why were the only ones who didn't get paid were the Native fishermen? In fact, not only were they not paid, but they received rubber checks. Usually when you write that many NSF checks when you know there isn't money in the bank to cover them, you get charged with a crime called check kiting. I know, just little details that little people get dinged with; as Leona Helmsley used to say, only little people pay taxes...
These comments have all very good arguments from both sides of the coin. As someone directly involved and affected by the whole WSI scenario I would like to point out two things.
1) May 6th comment from Anonymous, "hired a highly qualified CEO from Outside" is what was sold, but quite honestly he was NOT in the least qualified for Alaska, for Seafood, for Wrangell, most importantly for WSI. He had NO Perspective on the Facts or Reality of our industry. Facts and Reality Many of us tried to point out, but we were ignored, because there was a "PLAN" and a "Racetrack"? Like that helped!
2) And this could just be a misinterpretation on my part, but from Anonymous May 13th, "And of all the fishermen who sold their catch, why were the only ones who didn't get paid were the Native fishermen?" NOT true!!!! Native and Whites alike were NOT Paid!!! It was not a pick and choose scene back then. The money ran out and NONE of us were paid. Not fishermen, not tenders, not dock workers, Not suppliers, Not Local accounts for stores or fuel stations etc. NO ONE was paid, and if a few got some funds it was luck and tears that got you a token slice of what you were owed. NOTHING that truly helped or made a difference.
Yes, this town IS strong, will continue to stay strong, but that is thanks to the character of people who reside here and who have helped those hurt by WSI's "Bald Eagle's" lack of reality as CEO.
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