New Brunswick seafood company Cooke Inc. has acquired Australian seafood producer Tassal Group (TGR) for $1.5 billion.
The parent company of Cooke Aquaculture said in a news release that the purchase of Tassal Group is the biggest deal in the privately held, family-owned company’s 37-year history.
Cooke has purchased all of the outstanding stock of Tassal Group for $5.23 Australian dollars (Cdn$4.66) per share following approval by Tassal shareholders and an Australian court.
Tassal harvests about 40,000 tonnes of Atlantic salmon annually in marine farming zones and freshwater hatcheries that stretch from southern Tasmania to northern Queensland.
Tassal Group also farms some 5,500 tonnes of Australian black tiger prawns a year.
