Hyde Road Agricultural Associates, formerly the Lazy Q Fish Ranch in Dixon, California, U.S.A, has received a USD 14 million (EUR 12.9 million) loan from an alternative investment management firm.
Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Hunter Street Partners has partnered with Bethesda, Maryland-based lower-middle market private investment firm CapitalView Investment Partners to provide the senior term loan, which will be used to fund capital improvements at the Hyde Road's aquaculture facility and to refinance its existing debt.
According to Hunter Street, Hyde Road Agricultural Associates is a fully operational commercial fish farm with an existing customer base and a large inventory of antibiotic-free white sturgeon, black bass, silver carp, and striped bass. Hyde Road Agricultural Associates has operated the farm since 2014 and has made “significant long‐term investments in developing its robust stock of white sturgeon,” Hunter Street said.
The new investment will be used to add an indoor hatchery, grow tanks, and an onsite processing facility capable of large‐scale processing of harvested stock, Hunter Street said.
"We're pleased to support the growth and further development of the company's sustainable aquaculture facility, which at scale will represent a meaningful share of the domestic and global market for white sturgeon," Hunter Street Partner Andrew Platt said. "This deal is an example of our ability to custom craft loan terms for a niche business in an attractive and growing market segment – sustainable domestic aquaculture. We are excited to partner with the Company as they achieve their next level of growth."
Hyde Road Agricultural Associates LLC is “a socially and environmentally responsible farm-to-plate producer of aquaculture products whose core ethos is meeting the ever-insatiable consumer demand for traceable seafood protein and providing consumers with a consistent, high-quality, year-round supply of healthy, delicious, and versatile protein,” according to the company’s mission statement.
Hunter Street CEO and Chief Investment Officer Neal Johnson said he expects demand to increase for these type of loans as the economic fallout from the coronavirus crisis continues.
"We continue to see significant opportunities to partner with small- and medium-sized businesses that don't have access to the traditional financing markets, and the latest macro dislocation will only increase that demand," Johnson said.
Photo courtesy of Hyde Aquaculture
