The sale of Icicle Seafoods announced in June has fallen through.
Details in this press release.
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Alaska commercial fishing news and notes
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- Deckboss
- I'm a journalist covering Alaska's commercial fishing industry. My real name is Wesley Loy. Reach me at wloy61@gmail.com.
6 comments:
Buyers must have realized how uncompetitive the Icicle assets are becoming compared to Trident and Silver Bay in the salmon business or to Unisea and Westward in the Pollock business. Tough if you are an Icicle fisherman or employee. Have to figure there is a pretty good chance this thing will now be split up. So you have to wonder if you have a market or job come next year.
Nice speculation. China economic crash devalued asian currency, and buyers were faced with steep price increase.
Bollocks on the currency devaluation. That has nothing to do with this. Word was these buyers were trying to set up a Florida based shell company in the name of someone's daughter to own the catcher boats. Maybe MARAD is actually doing their job and enforcing the laws on the books prohibiting foreign ownership for a change, and disregarding the domestic shell company structure. If so, keep going because there are more of them around.
Icicle Alaska operations continue to have infrastructure issues. The cost of operations by their current model is to high compared to the value of their product. Carrying to much debt from the producers with a grounded market expectation for wild product. Farm fish industry regulates a market niche that does not require the uncertainty of wild production. Paine and Partners do not believe in building from the ground up and would probably take on partners that would manage the risk. Current Icicle management structure is weak, outdated and without discipline or vision.
Fishermen should buy the company.
Doesn't matter who buys it or owns it, they will still have the same outdated plants. Paine and Icicle management probably doesn't even get this. Dillingham, Egigik, Larsen Bay, Northern Victor, the, two processing ships and a bunch of beat up draggers cant compete with Westward/Peter Pan, Silver Bay. Trident, etc. Whoever ends up with this company is going to have to spend millions to set it right.
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