American Seafood Partners acquires Cal Marine in major West Coast deal
The acquisition adds Cal Marine’s fishing fleet, cold storage and multispecies processing operations to the wild-caught seafood group.
Cal Marine Fish Co, a California-based commercial fishing, export and vessel management company, has been acquired by American Seafood Partners, according to Antarctica Advisors Senior Director Charles Arrigo.
Based in San Pedro, California, Cal Marine operates a fleet of fishing vessels, cold storage facilities and multi-species processing operations. The company lands a significant portion of the U.S. West Coast squid quota and supplies wild-caught seafood to domestic and international customers.
Founded in 1997, Cal Marine has focused on harvesting and processing seafood from Pacific fisheries.
American Seafood Partners, based in Narragansett, Rhode Island, is a vertically integrated seafood company focused on wild-caught squid and Northeast sourced seafood. Its businesses include The Town Dock, Sea Fresh USA, Handrigan Seafood and now Cal Marine Fish Co.
Antarctica Advisors acted as the exclusive investment banking adviser to Cal Marine on the sale.
“We are proud to have structured a transaction that pairs Cal Marine with a strategic partner committed to building an integrated coast-to-coast platform,” Arrigo said.
“The combination strengthens both companies and positions Cal Marine for its next phase of growth within the ASP family of brands. The Antarctica team identified a number of strategic players around the world and placed this company in experienced hands.”
Joe Hamby, CEO of Cal Marine’s parent company Inter Oceanic Holdings, called the deal a proud milestone for Cal Marine and all who have helped build the company over 30 years.
“We asked Antarctica Advisors to bring us a partner who understood our business and shared our commitment to quality and responsible harvesting. They did just that through a competitive and professional process,” Hamby said.
“Joining ASP’s vertically integrated platform gives our fleet and our team the scale and resources to continue growing while preserving what has made Cal Marine successful.”
