SalMar to buy 45% stake in salmon farmer Refsnes
Salmon producer SalMar has agreed to buy a 45% stake in another Norwegian salmon farmer, Refsnes Laks AS, which has licences for 3,932 tonnes of maximum allowed biomass.
The acquisition, which is subject to approval from Norway’s competition watchdog, will cost SalMar NOK 665 million (£54.9m).
In a press release from SalMar, Refsnes Laks chairman Ivar Refsnes said that for many years a close and value-creating collaboration had been developed between the companies. SalMar’s acquisition of a significant ownership interest was a natural continuation of the collaboration and would strengthen the financial basis for Refsnes Laks, which has its base in Åfjord municipality.
SalMar said the deal would give it further sustainable growth in the immediate vicinity of existing fish farming areas in Central Norway and ensure significant synergies and further development of existing activity and operational competence.
Norway Royal Salmon
SalMar is also chasing ownership of another Norwegian salmon farmer, Norway Royal Salmon (NRS), which expects to harvest 48,000 gutted weight tonnes of salmon in Norway and Iceland this year. SalMar has offered shareholders NOK 270 per share, which is 12.5% above an offer by another company, NTS, which has offered NOK 240 a share. The SalMar offer represents a 54% premium to a 30-day volume-weighted average share price for NRS shares before the date of the NTS bid.
As with Refsnes Laks, SalMar says it has significant synergies with NRS, in this case with overlapping interests in Northern Norway, the West Fjords of Iceland and offshore.
SalMar is also increasing stake in Scotland through Scottish Sea Farms (SSF), the salmon farmer it owns equally with Norwegian fish farmer Lerøy Seafood. SSF has agreed to buy Grieg Seafood Shetland for £164m.
