In a blockbuster fish deal, Trident Seafoods Corp. of Seattle announced Monday that it plans to take over Ocean Beauty Seafoods Inc., creating by far the state's largest salmon processing company.
Executives with Trident, a major player not only in salmon but also in Alaska's other commercial sea harvests, including bottom fish and king crab, said they had no plans to shut down any of Ocean Beauty's seven predominantly salmon packing plants around the state.
The two companies, both based in Seattle, employ hundreds of people, particularly in summer when the salmon are running and coastal waters churn with fishing boats.
Terms of the deal, including the price Trident will pay for Ocean Beauty, were not announced. Both companies are privately held.
The buyout marks the latest round of consolidation in the state's salmon industry, which has struggled in recent years with competition from foreign, farm-raised fish that have flooded world markets once controlled by Alaska's strictly wild-caught salmon.
Chuck Bundrant, Trident's flinty founder and chairman, said his company and Ocean Beauty are a good fit. Trident, he said, is a strong wholesale supplier to foodservice companies, while Ocean Beauty's strength is retail sales with its array of in-house seafood brands and products.
Executives with both companies said they hope to close the deal before the summer salmon season.
The buyout is subject to review by antitrust officials, including the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission.
Bundrant and Trident attorney Joe Plesha, however, said they don't think the deal will encounter any antitrust problems. Bundrant noted that the state has lots of other salmon packers, including Peter Pan and Icicle, and that Trident remains "small potatoes" compared to Japanese conglomerates with seafood processing operations in Alaska.
Also, in places such as Kodiak, Ocean Beauty is a big salmon buyer but not Trident, Bundrant said.
The two companies do overlap substantially in other areas such as Bristol Bay, scene of the world's largest sockeye salmon run and the state's most valuable salmon fishery. Both Trident and Ocean Beauty have packing plants there.
Bill Noll, Alaska's commerce commissioner, said Monday he views the Trident takeover of Ocean Beauty as a sign that the state's beleaguered salmon industry is coming back strongly and can still attract investment capital.
He said he's not concerned about one company, Trident, becoming too dominant.
"I don't want to call it the Exxon of the fishing industry, because it's not," Noll said. "We've still got other, well-established processors."
Bob Thorstenson Jr., president of the state's top fishing trade association, United Fishermen of Alaska, also said he sees the buyout as positive, although he added that the deal will worry some fishermen who might see potential for lower dockside prices.
Bundrant, a former Alaska crab boat captain, and his partners started from scratch in 1973 and built Trident into a North Pacific powerhouse, Thorstenson said. And by growing larger, Trident can better compete with the globe's biggest seafood players, including the salmon farmers, he said.
"This is a big move for wild salmon," Thorstenson said. "It's a bold move on Chuck's part. I didn't see a lot of 'for sale' signs over there at Ocean Beauty. This is a risk. He's a guy who's willing to take a risk because he believes in the industry."
In recent years, Alaska's salmon industry has seen extensive consolidation, with companies such as Wards Cove and Cook Inlet Processors folding or selling to other operators.
The Ocean Beauty deal caps a string of recent business moves by Trident. In 2004, the company bought another rival seafood packer, NorQuest. And this month, it announced a deal to buy food giant ConAgra's Louis Kemp fish brand.
As with NorQuest, Trident executives said they plan to maintain Ocean Beauty as a distinct company, and its plants in Naknek, Nikiski, Kodiak, Cordova, Petersburg and Excursion Inlet near Juneau will operate this season as originally planned.
Ocean Beauty, founded in 1910, is among the top two or three salmon buyers, in terms of numbers of fish, operating in the state. Its president, Mark Palmer, is board chairman of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. Palmer said Monday he'll remain with the company once the buyout is complete.
Daily News reporter Wesley Loy can be reached at wloy@adn.com or 257-4590.
