PURE SALMON ACQUIRES FUNDING

Pure Salmon acquires funding for its first four land-based salmon farming projects. 8F Asset Management has raised US$358.8m for Pure Salmon RAS facilities in Poland, Japan, France and US

Pure Salmon, the sustainable land-based salmon farming company, has over the last 12 months, announced plans for a number of new Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS) salmon facilities around the world. The company now has the capital required for phase one of its global rollout covering the projects in Poland, Japan, France and the US, thanks to the completion of fund raising from 8F Asset Management, closing its first aquaculture private equity fund at US$358.8m.

The investor base comprises leading family and institutional investors including several sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, and pension funds from Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the United States. The project also attracted substantial investments from the aquaculture industry including AquaMaof, Pure Salmon’s RAS technology partner.

This phase represents a total production target of 40,000 tons per annum and will be delivered by Pure Salmon’s growing team of experts including specialists in aquaculture, salmon, RAS technology, sales and marketing, construction planning and execution, and finance and accounting. The Pure Salmon management team is being brought together in a new global headquarters to be based in Abu Dhabi’s financial centre, ADGM (Abu Dhabi Global Market), which will create a centrally located hub from which the Pure Salmon vision will be realised in local markets around the world.

Whilst the RAS facility in Poland is already up and running, the first three new-build projects – Japan, France, and USA – are progressing according to their respective timelines, with the Japan project being most advanced in terms of design, permitting and other preparations, and where it is expected Pure Salmon will break ground in early Summer 2020. Pure Salmon is also working with Nippon Koei, Japan’s leading engineering consultant towards that goal. Completion of works is expected by late 2021 with the first harvest planned for 2023.

Pure Salmon’s project in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, is moving quickly with strong support from the local authorities. The French Government has offered a Fast Track process to obtain all necessary permitting by Autumn this year. Pure Salmon has contracted three local specialist companies to execute geotechnical studies, hydrogeological studies and permit application assistance. As both Japan and France are 10,000 tons projects, the French facility will share many common design features of the Japanese facility, which helps the design process to be quicker. The company is in discussions with construction partners with a view to break ground before year-end, provided the permitting is completed as expected.

For the 20,000 tons facility in the US, Pure Salmon has completed the site surveys and geotechnical studies. Pure Salmon’s technology partner, AquaMaof is scheduled to start working on the initial RAS technology design for this larger facility. The plan is to begin applications for permitting in a few months’ time and land preparation work is expected to commence during the last quarter of 2020.

Pure Salmon continues to develop its other projects including those announced in China, Africa and South East Asia, which all contribute towards the global target of 260,000 tons of sustainable salmon production in local markets for local consumers.

Stephane Farouze, Board Director of Pure Salmon and Chairman and Founder of 8F Asset Management, commented:

“With this highly successful asset raise we have reached a critical milestone in the development of Pure Salmon and have truly begun our journey towards 260,000 tons p.a. production of sustainable salmon.

What’s more, having attracted such a highly respected group of investors, shows the level of confidence in the potential of the land-based aquaculture industry and in the ability of Pure Salmon and 8F to successfully deliver their vision”.

Each Pure Salmon farm will use Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS) technology, a proven and scalable method of aquaculture, provided by Pure Salmon’s technology partner AquaMaof Aquaculture Technologies, that sees the fish reared in the healthiest living conditions possible, that closely replicate the positive qualities of their natural environment, while significantly lowering the cost of production compared to traditional sea-cage farming.

For more information on Pure Salmon, please visit: www.pure-salmon.com

Photo credit: Pure Salmon