The growing global population is feeding global demand for
seafood. Growing demand is likely to drive investment, particularly
mergers and acquisitions, in seafood processing, distribution,
marketing and export operations. And both global trends coincide
with regulatory change in the seafood sector, most recently the new
Safe Food for Canadians Act and Regulations.
Since Atlantic Canadian waters produce many high-demand, premium
seafood products, Atlantic Canadian seafood processing operations
are growing merger and acquisition targets. Due diligence is
crucial to the success of any M&A transaction. A key due
diligence consideration in a seafood processing operation M&A
is ensuring that when the deal closes, the purchaser will end up
with all necessary permits, licences and authorizations it requires
to continue to operate the business. If not, the purchaser could
end up owning the company or assets, but be unable to generate
revenue – and the seller could end up in a
