Santa Monica Seafood, Rancho Dominguez, Calif., announced plans to acquire most of the assets of Seattle Fish Co. of New Mexico, Inc., Albuquerque, N.M.

“This transaction continues our goal of growth and expansion,” says Roger O’Brien, president and CEO of Santa Monica Seafood. “We recently announced the opening of a new packaging and distribution facility in Illinois. This acquisition will provide us coverage throughout New Mexico and West Texas. Seattle Fish Co. of New Mexico has 31 years of operating history with a well-established reputation for supplying high-quality seafood. They will continue to do business as Seattle Fish Co. of New Mexico, and they will be run as a separate, stand-alone division of Santa Monica Seafood. We will maintain all of their existing facilities and hopefully all their existing personnel.”

Santa Monica Seafood will acquire Seattle Fish’s customer base, operating facilities, trade receivables, inventory, trade payables, intangible assets and the vehicles and equipment associated with their existing operations. 

“What really attracted us to this opportunity was their market dominance, the quality of their SQF-2 and MSC-certified facilities, their profitability, their well-run operations and having good quality people in place,” adds O’Brien. “These factors will allow us to continue having their existing leadership team run their operations with minimal involvement by our corporate personnel. However, we do plan to provide our assistance and our resources to better hone their operations, and to help them further expand their foodservice and retail customer base.”

Darrin Amador, vice president of sales for Seattle Fish, will now be senior vice president and COO. Craig Risk, president and founder, will remain a consultant to the company for the next year.

“Seattle Fish of New Mexico is a great fit for us. They focus on the same key business elements we do—quality people, quality service and quality fish, along with a strong focus on food safety. This marriage will allow Santa Monica Seafood to continue as the preeminent seafood distributor in the Southwestern United States,” says Michael Cigliano, executive vice president of Santa Monica Seafood.