Pure Salmon raises £292m for first RAS plants
On-land fish farmer Pure Salmon today announced that it has raised $358.8 million (£292m) to fund its first four recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) plants in Poland, Japan, France and the United States.
The plants will produce 40,000 tonnes of Atlantic salmon per year between them, with construction work beginning on the Japan and France plants this year.
The Polish plant – used as an R&D and training centre – is the former Global Fish plant and has been up and running for some time.
Construction schedule
Work on the 10,000-tonne facility in Japan is scheduled to start in the summer. It is expected to be completed by late 2021 with the first harvest planned for 2023.
Pure Salmon also expects to break ground on the site of a 10,000-tonne facility in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, before the end of this year.
In a press release, the company said it is moving quickly with strong support from the local authorities, adding that the French Government has offered a fast track process to obtain all necessary permitting by autumn this year.
Preparation work
Site surveys and geotechnical studies have been completed for the 20,000-tonne facility in Tazewell County in Virginia in the US and Pure Salmon’s technology partner, the Israeli RAS expert AquaMaof, is scheduled to start working on the initial design for the larger facility.
Pure Salmon expects to begin applications for permitting in a few months’ time and land preparation work is expected to commence during the last quarter of 2020.
Pure Salmon is owned by 8F Asset Management, which intends to produce 260,000 tonnes of salmon a year at RAS facilities near population centres and is raising money through a series of private equity funds. The first fund has now been closed after raising $358.8m.
The investor base comprises leading family and institutional investors including several sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, and pension funds from Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the US. The project also attracted substantial investments from the aquaculture industry including AquaMaof.
‘Respected investors’
Stephane Farouze, board director of Pure Salmon and chairman and founder of 8F Asset Management, said: “With this highly successful asset raise we have reached a critical milestone in the development of Pure Salmon and have truly begun our journey towards 260,000 tons p.a. production of sustainable salmon.
“What’s more, having attracted such a highly respected group of investors, shows the level of confidence in the potential of the land-based aquaculture industry and in the ability of Pure Salmon and 8F to successfully deliver their vision.”
Pure Salmon has signed deals to build a 20,000-tonne salmon RAS in the land-locked southern African state of Lesotho and a 10,000-tonne facility in Brunei. It is also looking at sites in China.
