Holland & Knight partners Alberto Hernandez, Elena Otero, and associate Faisal Kraziem in Miami.

A salmon farm near Homestead secured $210 million in new financing, closing the transaction with help from a Holland & Knight legal team working during the coronavirus pandemic.

Atlantic Sapphire USA LLC is the U.S. arm of Norway's Atlantic Sapphire AS, which pioneered an inland fish-farming method that it's bringing to an 80-acre farm northwest of Southwest 272nd Street and 217th Avenue in unincorporated Miami-Dade County.

Atlantic Sapphire is constructing the project in four parts starting with a 390,000-square-foot facility to produce 22 million pounds of salmon a year. Construction completion and the first harvest are expected in the third quarter as Atlantic Sapphire USA already has hatched and is farming 3 million salmon.

It has continued work during coronavirus as food production is deemed an essential business, but it has imposed social distancing requirements at the site and invested in masks and other personal protection equipment for staff members.

Holland & Knight partners Alberto Hernandez and Elena Otero and associates Faisal Kraziem and Danielle Moore, all in Miami, closed the transaction along with associate Brittany Fox in Dallas.

Norwegian publicly traded financial services company DNB ASA issued the loan Tuesday as attorneys reinvented how they close transactions while abiding by social-distancing guidelines.

This is a refinance and restructuring of an existing loan with DNB as well as an increase of Atlantic Sapphire's debt.

DNB was the main lender in an $86 million credit agreement Atlantic Sapphire USA took out in March 2019. That credit agreement broke down to $54 million for construction and $17 million as a bridge loan to cover expenses until the farm becomes profitable. There also was an $11 million revolving credit line for the Miami-Dade facility and $4 million in revolving credit for Atlantic Sapphire's Danish facility.

The more recent $210 million refinancing breaks down to an $180 million term loan and a $30 million revolving credit facility.

Holland & Knight declined to disclose the term and interest rate.

Norwegians Johan Andreassen and Bjorn-Vegard Lovik started Atlantic Sapphire and have a small-scale facility in Hvide Sande, Denmark, but the Miami-Dade operation will be larger.

Andreassen and Lovik pioneered a method for raising salmon in continuously purified water where the salmon swim against a manmade current to mimic their natural environment. The trademarked Bluehouse process varies from traditional salmon farming where fish from eggs hatched on land are moved to ocean pens. Problems included salmon escapes and contamination with sea lice.

Atlantic Sapphire picked South Miami-Dade after a 14-state search in part because of the natural water resources.

Atlantic Sapphire says it will recycle 99% of its water and reuse farm waste as fertilizer or to create renewable energy.

Holland & Knight's Otero said the team closed the loan in a month and a half working remotely for most of the transaction and dealing with related challenges swiftly, without delaying the transaction.

Coronavirus pandemic aside, the deal itself is one of a kind, Otero added.

"This was a unique deal because of the international components, complex financing structure and the underlying real estate asset, further development of a salmon farm," she said in an emailed statement.

Kraziem echoed Otero's point about the international nature of the deal. A Norwegian company is investing in South Miami-Dade with financing coming from Norway's biggest financial services group, Kraziem said.

"This transaction really highlights how interconnected our global economy is," he said in prepared remarks. "At the end of the day, this is an exciting milestone for Atlantic Sapphire as this additional capital really positions this already-great company to become a market leader in its industry and we are just excited to have played a part."

Instant Insights /

Norwegians Close $210M Loan for Miami-Dade Salmon Farm Amid Coronavirus

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