Cooke Family Adds Scallops & Other Seafood Products To Its Menu - Eaton Peabody

June 18, 2015

Eaton Peabody, TAGLaw member in Maine (USA), has been longstanding U.S. counsel to Cooke Aquaculture, based in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada, helping Cooke grow from its first small U.S. acquisition to its present international scale. Cooke Aquaculture processes and sells 115,000 metric tons (whole fish equivalent) of Atlantic salmon and 20,000 metric tons (whole fish equivalent) of sea bass and sea bream each year and annual sales are valued at nearly $1 billion. The Cooke family, owners of Cooke Aquaculture, came to Eaton Peabody to lead its acquisition of Wanchese Fish Company, a family-owned business that has become one of the world’s largest producers of sea scallops. Wanchese has significant operations in Virginia and North Carolina, important scallop fisheries in Argentina, and sells much of its products through sales offices in France.

Eaton Peabody attorneys Eric Marshall, David Austin and Amon Purinton, led the Cooke legal team on this complex acquisition and related financing, which included Eaton Peabody attorneys Dan Pittman (tax), Ed Feibel (benefits), Allison Lucy (corporate), Mike Hahn (financing), Seth Brewster (antitrust), and others. Eaton Peabody brought in members of its TAGLaw legal network as local counsel, including John Mercer (real estate), Henry “Speaker” Pollard (environmental) and Judy Bristow (corporate) from Williams Mullen in Virginia and North Carolina, Pablo Brusco (lead Argentine counsel) of Brons y Salas in Argentina, and Alistair McDonagh (lead French counsel) of SCP Triplet & Associes, France. Eaton Peabody attorneys also worked with Leonard Langer (admiralty & maritime) of Thompson Bowie in Portland, ME.

This transaction was a seamless integration of TAGLaw law firms working together from Maine, Virginia, North Carolina, Argentina and France.

“We were incredibly pleased with the way counsel from all the law firms worked together as a single team. It was essential to be able to bring this expertise to the client and this transaction,” said David Austin, President of Eaton Peabody and lead counsel on financing the acquisition. “This was a very complex transaction taking place over an extended period of time. The high degree of quality of service, professionalism and personal dedication of the lawyers involved was impressive, to us and to our client. This is exactly the way these cross-jurisdiction affiliations are supposed to work. We are proud to be affiliated with TAGLaw and this experience reinforces our commitment to the group.”

This transaction is consistent with the Cooke family’s focus on vertical integration and diversification in terms of geography, products and markets. Cooke Seafood USA Inc. will provide another platform for future growth within the capture fishery. The Cooke family’s strategy has been to achieve growth through acquisitions and organic growth in the seafood sector that is both sustainable and responsibly managed to meet market demand.

Press Release from Cooke Seafood USA Inc.

Blacks Harbour NB – The Cooke family is pleased to announce the signing of an agreement with the Daniels family for the purchase of Wanchese Fish Company based in Suffolk, Virginia US. This deal and investment into the wild fishery involves the creation of a new company, Cooke Seafood USA Inc.

“This purchase is an exciting venture for us as we add a well-respected, family-owned and vertically integrated fishing company to our family’s businesses,” said Glenn Cooke, CEO of the newly formed Cooke Seafood USA Inc. “We have found many similarities in our corporate cultures, not only a strong focus on family values but also on investment in a well-managed and third party certified fisheries (MSC) – investments that are core to our family’s business philosophy.”

The Wanchese Fish Company was founded in 1936 and has grown to become a leading supplier of seafood products in North America and Europe. A vertically integrated seafood harvester, processor and distributor, Wanchese is capable of harvesting over 4,000 tons of wild scallops, flounder and other seafood products each year. Its industry-leading fleet of 15 vessels is capable of providing fresh product to the USA and also has process-at-sea capabilities. In the late ’90s, the Daniels family began using a new technology to generate the Wanchese Scallop Medallions, which resulted in a high-demand, flavorful product. To meet the growing demand, the family opened Suffolk Cold Storage in Suffolk, Virginia, a state-of-the-art processing plant, cold storage facility, and corporate office for the family’s multiple operations.

“When my grandfather started Wanchese Fish Company in 1936, he never imagined his grandchildren would harvest and distribute seafood on a global level,” says Sam Daniels, President of Wanchese Fish Company. “The Lord has blessed us tremendously and we believe this deal with the Cooke family, another company built on trust and commitment to quality, will strengthen our company, provide stability for our employees, and enhance the product offerings to our customers.”