SalMar grows bigger as NRS shareholders agree merger
Norway Royal Salmon’s shareholders today voted to approve a merger with fellow Norwegian salmon farmer SalMar in a deal which will cement SalMar’s position as the world’s second largest Atlantic salmon farmer after Mowi.
Shareholders also approved a private placement of shares to buy salmon farmer SalmoNor from fish farming and wellboats company NTS ASA, which is itself in the process of being bought by SalMar.
As well as owning SalmoNor, NTS has a controlling 68% stake in Norway Royal Salmon (NRS). Between them, NRS and SalmoNor produced around 90,000 gutted weight tonnes of Atlantic salmon in Norway and Iceland last year under their own names or through subsidiaries and have the potential for much more.
SalMar, which co-owns Scottish Sea Farms, produced around 182,000 gwt of salmon in Norway and Iceland last year. Adding the 90,000 gwt from the NTS salmon estate will lift SalMar’s global harvest volume well above other big hitters such as Cermaq, Lerøy and AquaChile.
Although SalMar would have gained control of NRS under the NTS acquisition, the agreed merger – which was also appoved by SalMar sharegolders today – is likely to make integration quicker and smoother.
