Rancho Dominguez, CA – Roger O’Brien, President and CEO of Santa Monica Seafood, announced the Company has signed a definitive Purchase Agreement to acquire most of the assets of Seattle Fish Company of New Mexico, Inc.
Roger O’Brien said, “This transaction continues our goal of growth and expansion. We recently announced the opening of a new packaging and distribution facility in Illinois. This acquisition will provide us coverage throughout New Mexico and West Texas. Seattle Fish Company of New Mexico has 31 years of operating history with a well-established reputation for supplying high quality seafood. They will continue to do business as Seattle Fish Company of New Mexico and they will be run as a separate, stand-alone division of Santa Monica Seafood. We will maintain all of their existing facilities and hopefully all their existing personnel.”
Santa Monica Seafood will acquire, in addition to the customer base and operating facilities, the trade receivables, the inventory, the trade payables, the intangible assets and the vehicles and equipment associated with their existing operations. The transaction is targeted to close on March 30th.
Roger O’Brien added, “What really attracted us to this opportunity was their market dominance, the quality of their SQF-2 and MSC certified facilities, their profitability, their well run operations, and having good quality people in place. These factors will allow us to continue having their existing leadership team run their operations with minimal involvement by our corporate personnel. However, we do plan to provide our assistance and our resources to better hone their operations, and to help them further expand their foodservice and retail customer base.”
Darrin Amador, the existing VP of Sales for Seattle Fish Company of New Mexico, will now be Senior VP and Chief Operating Officer reporting to the President and CEO of Santa Monica Seafood. Craig Risk, President and founder, will remain a consultant to the Company for the next year to help ensure transitional success.
Michael Cigliano, EVP of Santa Monica Seafood, added, “Seattle Fish of New Mexico is a great fit for us. They focus on the same key business elements we do – quality people, quality service and quality fish, along with a strong focus on food safety. This marriage will allow Santa Monica Seafood to continue as the preeminent seafood distributor in the Southwestern United States.”
ABOUT SANTA MONICA SEAFOOD – Santa Monica Seafood, as a family-owned and operated company for the past 79 years, is the largest specialty wholesale distributor of fresh and frozen seafood in the Southwestern U.S. with its 120,000 square foot corporate offices and main processing facility located in Rancho Dominguez, California, along with additional satellite distribution and/or processing locations in California, Arizona, Nevada and Illinois. Santa Monica Seafood also owns and operates two retail stores and cafes – in Santa Monica and Costa Mesa, CA – which specialize in seafood and seafood related products. Santa Monica Seafood was the first and still the only seafood company in the United States to achieve the internationally recognized FSSC 22000 certification for food safety management systems and ISO 14001 certification for environmental management programs, as well as BAP certification for its Rancho Dominguez facility for repacking salmon, shrimp and tilapia products.
Source: Santa Monica Seafood