Earlier this year, AquaBounty took out a short-term $10 million loan that matures at the end of this month.
Land-based salmon farmer AquaBounty Technologies has announced the sale of its recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facility in Albany, Indiana, to Superior Fresh for $9.5 million.
The transaction, detailed in an 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), involves AquaBounty Farms Indiana and AquaBounty Farms Ohio—both subsidiaries of AquaBounty Technologies—entering an asset purchase agreement with Superior Fresh on June 28. The sale, which includes the Indiana-based RAS facility and its equipment, is expected to close in July, pending various closing conditions.
AquaBounty plans to use the proceeds to reduce its secured term loan with JMB Capital Partners Lending, LLC.
AquaBounty originally acquired the Indiana facility from Bell Fish Company in 2017 for $14 million, intending to produce genetically engineered salmon. The company decided to sell the facility to secure financing for its ongoing and future projects, including a planned RAS facility in Pioneer, Ohio. Construction of the Ohio facility, which began in April 2022, was paused in June 2023 due to escalating costs, which rose from an initial estimate of $200 million to as high as $395 million.
AquaBounty put its 1,200-tonnes-per-year Indiana facility on the market in February to raise cash. The company is building a 10,000-tonne RAS facility in Pioneer, Ohio, but paused work last year due to rising costs.
In April, AquaBounty took out a short-term $10 million loan from JMB Capital Partners Lending to raise working capital and buy up existing debt, putting up both the Indiana farm and its yet-to-be-completed Ohio RAS facility as collateral. The loan matures at the end of this month or, if earlier, upon the sale of certain collateral or an event of default.
Last month, AquaBounty announced that company president David Melbourne was taking on the added role of chief executive, taking over from Sylvia Wulf, who continues as non-executive chair of the company’s board.
The sale is expected to be completed this month.
