Gigante Salmon raises £15m to meet rising costs
Land-based fish farmer successfully places 27.7 million new shares
Gigante Salmon, which is developing a land-based fish farm in Norway, has raised NOK 200 million (£15m) by issuing new shares in the company at a fixed price of NOK 7.2 per share.
The net proceeds will be used to finance increased investment and working capital needs for the construction and operation of the facility on Lille Indre Rosøy (Little Inner Rosøy) island in Rødøy municipality, as well as for general corporate purposes.
The private placement was aimed at Norwegian and international investors.
The company's largest shareholder, Gigante Havbruk, owns 51.38% of the company and had previously committed to subscribe for shares for NOK 100 million. After the issue round, it now owns 51.09% of the company.
Other investors
In addition, certain other investors had committed in advance to subscribe for shares for the following amounts: Kulta Invest AS (NOK 20m), Yannick AS (NOK 20m), Helgeland Invest AS (NOK 15m) and Nordea Investment Management (NOK 5m).
In September, Gigante Salmon said costs for its flow-through facility had risen by £15m to approximately £48m due to general price increases, particularly electricity.
Earlier this month, Gigante Salmon announced that it had secured a long-term leasing arrangement with SpareBank 1 Finans Nord-Norge AS to finance an extra NOK 100m (£7.5m).
The company plans to produce 16,000 gutted weight tonnes of fish annually in raceways excavated into the bedrock of Lille Indre Rosøy and expects to stock its first smolts in Q4 this year, slightly later than the previously announced September to October release.
Gigante Salmon spent around NOK 95 million (£7.3m) on the project in the second quarter of 2023, taking its total investment at the end of June to NOK 260m.
