Mowi makes £1.44bn offer for NTS
Mowi has made an offer to buy Norway and Iceland salmon farmer NTS for NOK 13.8 billion (£1.44bn).
Mowi, which is already the world’s biggest Atlantic salmon farmer, is offering NTS shareholders NOK 110 per share, which it says is represents a premium of 18.3% over the closing price of the shares on 14 January 2022 of NOK 93.
The shares will be purchased using 50% cash and 50% Mowi shares, if the trade is completed.
84,000 tonnes
In a stock exchange announcement today, Mowi said it had been impressed by how the employees, management team and owners of NTS had developed the company into one of the leading producers of Atlantic salmon in Norway and Iceland.
NTS had grown into a fully integrated salmon farmer, producing 84,000 gutted weight tonnes in production areas 7 to 12 in Norway and Iceland. The NTS Group also holds 7.7 development licences in Arctic Offshore Farming, and the aqua service company Frøy ASA.
“NTS' geographical footprint and competent organisation fit unusually well with Mowi’s current operations and strategy,” said Mowi chief executive Ivan Vindheim.
“Together, we can maintain and create new jobs and further develop competence clusters along the Norwegian coastline, for the benefit of local communities.”
A friendly response
Vindheim told Norway’s E24 news site that the company had been invited by a majority of the shareholders in NTS to make an offer for the NTS group.
“This is a friendly response to that inquiry, and an industrial push from Mowi’s side. So, we hope such an offer can be attractive to the company's shareholders and employees.”
Last year Mowi produced around 466,000 gwt of salmon globally, comprising 273,000 gwt in Norway, 64,500 gwt in Scotland, 45,500 gwt in Canada, 66,000 gwt in Chile, 7,000 gwt in Ireland and 10,000 gwt in the Faroes.
