AquaBounty will pause the construction of its farm in Pioneer, Ohio due to a substantial increase in its estimated cost of completion. The company will now take the required time to evaluate the timing and cost of size and scope alternatives, including a phased approach to complete the project.

“During the past three years, AquaBounty has been working with its design and construction partners to manage through and mitigate the increasing costs that were exacerbated by historic inflation levels to complete construction of its Pioneer, Ohio farm. As cost estimates provided by our initial design/construction firm continued to increase, we engaged a second construction firm in January of this year to review the current cost estimates and rebid the remaining construction elements in order to finalize the project’s Guaranteed Maximum Price (“GMP”), which was integral to completing our municipal bond financing,” said Sylvia Wulf, CEO of AquaBounty.

“Despite the value engineering and cost reduction efforts we undertook, the GMP estimate that we received came in at a price that is significantly above our previously disclosed estimate of $375-395 million. Given this information, we cannot finance the project through a municipal bond placement without a significant increase in the company’s equity contribution. As a result, the company has put an immediate pause on further construction of the site while the management team undertakes a detailed review of its strategic options, including evaluating a smaller scope or size for the farm.”

The project is still important for the company’s growth strategy that will focus now on bringing it to completion in a manner that is prudent for the company and shareholders. In the meantime, the company will continue to supply its customer base with salmon from Indiana farm, while using that facility to improve operational practices and test new technologies in preparation for the Ohio farm start up.