Norway approves SalMar’s £483m sale of wellboat company shares
Frøy deal expected to be completed in Q3
Norwegian authorities have approved the sale of salmon farmer SalMar’s controlling stake in wellboat, sea freight, and marine services company Frøy to Falcon Bidco AS, a Norwegian-registered subsidiary of asset manager Goldman Sachs formed solely for the purpose of the transaction.
SalMar, which co-owns Scottish Sea Farms, became the majority owner of Frøy when it acquired fish farmer and marine services company NTS ASA in a deal that made it the world’s second largest salmon farmer. NTS owns 72.11% of Frøy, which operates 17 wellboats including one of the world’s largest capacity wellboats, Gåsø Høvding, built by Sefine Shipyard in Turkey in 2021.
The vessel has a total well volume of 7,500 cubic metres and is equipped with a 12-line hydrolicer and a reverse osmosis plant that can produce 5,000m³ of fresh water from sea water in 24 hours.
Frøy has a fleet of 80 vessels in total, including cargo vessels boats and barges for fish treatment, aquaculture service boats, net washing vessels, and dive boats.
NOK 4.76bn for SalMar
Falcon Bidco’s offer of NOK 76.50 per share values Frøy at NOK 6.6 billion (£483.2 million), which means SalMar would earn approximately NOK 4.76bn for its 72.11% stake.
SalMar said today that the Norwegian Competition Authority has approved the share sale, and that the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries has granted an exemption with respect to the nationality requirements for NOR registration in the Norwegian Maritime Code applicable to the vessels owned by Frøy.
Completion of the deal remains subject to receipt of the applicable approval from the competition authorities in Ukraine, as well some other remaining conditions. SalMar expects the share sale to be completed during the third quarter of 2023.
