Atlantic Sapphire to invest $25.5m Denmark insurance pay-out into US facility
On-land salmon farmer Atlantic Sapphire today announced that the insurance settlement after the fire in the company’s plant in Denmark on September 15, 2021, had been successfully concluded. Atlantic Sapphire has agreed on a cash settlement of DKK 180 million ($25.5m).
In a market announcement, Atlantic Sapphire said the book value at the time of the fire was DKK210m (approximately $33m at the exchange rate in September 2021) and the insurance process has identified approximately DKK30m of buildings and equipment that was undamaged by the fire.
In addition, Atlantic Sapphire has permits, a long-term land lease and a tax loss carry-forward.
Core business in US
The company said it was free to decide how the insurance proceeds are to be used and will allocate the settlement proceeds for operations and ongoing construction of its on-land salmon farm at Holmstead in Miami-Dade County, Florida.
In the meantime, the board will continue to review the company’s strategy for its Danish operations.
Atlantic Sapphire said its core business is expanding production in the United States, where it sees the highest return on investment. It added that it has now ensured stable operations in the US and is in the middle of a significant expansion of the production capacity.
Short value chains
“The current situation in the world further emphasises the importance of short and lean value chains,” stated Atlantic Sapphire, which has a long-term ambition to produce 200,000 tonnes of fish annually at the Florida site.
“In the US, the company is perfectly positioned to leverage this. The US is currently importing approximately 98% of its consumption of Atlantic salmon and the company believes there will be an increasing focus and preference for domestically produced food in the years ahead.”
