Mørenot buys into cage market

It is Mørenot’s fourth acquisition since it was bought by northern European investment fund FSN Capital last year.

Although it has supplied fish farm cage nets for many years, Mørenot has until now never supplied the plastic cage structures.

Base for cage growth

The company said that buying Hvalpsund Net, which was founded in 1934, offered it a great base for future growth on plastic cages, along with other exciting opportunities.

“Through hard work and solid dedication for a long period of time, Hvalpsund Net has been developed into an agile company with strong customer relationships, and a safe and good workplace for its employees,” said Mørenot chief executive Arne Birkeland.

She said Mørenot would now be able to offer more competitive solutions “and develop even more innovative products across all markets”.

Integrated solutions

“We will continue to develop the position Hvalpsund has built on plastic cages, nets and fishing gear by investing in further product development across the product portfolio,” added Birkeland in a press release.

“We will continue to deliver individual products separately, but at the same time also develop complete and integrated cage solutions in some markets.”

Ola Kvalheim, investment manager at FSN Capital, said the acquisition offered many new avenues for growth.

Fantastic addition

“We fully support the very offensive growth journey undertaken by the Mørenot management team,” said Kvalheim. “Hvalpsund and their employees are a fantastic addition to Mørenot.”

As well as 19 bases in Norway, Mørenot has operations in 15 locations in North and South America, Europe and Asia.

These include Mørenot Aquaculture Scotland on Scalpay in the Hebrides, and Mørenot Aquaculture Shetland at Blackness Pier, Scalloway.

Hvalpsund Net has around 90 employees based mainly in Denmark, Poland and Norway. The acquisition will increase Mørenot’s workforce to more than 700.