Cooke Inc. acquires Tassal Group Ltd.

Glenn Cooke, CEO of Cooke Inc. and Mark Ryan CEO of Tassal.
Photo: Cooke Inc.

Cooke Inc., parent company of Cooke Aquaculture Inc. of New Brunswick, Canada, has acquired Tassal Group Limited of Australia, under which Cooke has acquired all outstanding shares of Tassal.

This follows a Tassal shareholder vote held on November 3, with voting majorities that overwhelmingly approved the scheme. Final approval of the scheme was ordered by the Supreme Court of New South Wales on November 8.

Tassal is a vertically integrated seafood producer and Blue AgTech business. Its footprint spans from Southern Tasmania to the North of Queensland. Tassal annually harvests 40,000 tonnes of Atlantic salmon in five marine farming zones supported by four land based freshwater hatcheries and four processing facilities. The company also farms 5,500 tonnes of Australian Black Tiger Prawns from two hatcheries, three pond farms and processing facilities.

“We are thrilled to be joining the Tasmanian aquaculture industry and look forward to welcoming Tassal’s 1,700 employees to the Cooke family of companies,” said Glenn Cooke, CEO of Cooke Inc. “Over the last few months, myself and members of our global management team have had the opportunity to visit Tassal’s operations and have been so impressed by the team’s dedication to what they do and their communities. We’re looking forward to working with Tassal’s employees and customers to ensure that we continue to produce high quality, sustainable seafood for the Australian market and beyond.”

Cooke’s core purpose is to “cultivate the ocean with care, nourish the world, provide for our families, and build stronger communities.” Cooke believes Tassal will be a major contributor in furthering its commitment to the continuous improvement of animal husbandry, biosecurity, environmental management, and sustainable farming practices.

“Producing healthy and nutritious seafood comes with great responsibility. Whether we are farming prawns on land or salmon in the sea, our commitment is to be a responsible business respecting our people, the environment and communities we operate within as we deliver our vision of sustainably feeding tomorrow which aligns perfectly with Cooke’s core purpose,” said Mark Ryan, CEO of Tassal. “We’re looking forward to becoming part of the Cooke family of companies and sharing the best of what our industry has to offer.”