Icelandic fishing company Síldarvinnslan hf has reached an agreement to purchase over 34% of the shares in salmon farming company Arctic Fish Holding AS for almost NOK 1.1 billion.
Arctic Fish Holding owns 100% of the shares in Arctic Fish ehf, which is producing salmon in Iceland’s Wesfjords, where it has existing fish farming licences amounting to 27,100 tonnes maximum allowed biomass (MAB).
The deal was confirmed in a filing on the Oslo Euronext Growth market on 10 June 2022, with Arctic Fish advising that major shareholders Bremesco Holding, Icelandic Farming Holding, NOVO, and Neil Shiran Thorisson have signed a binding share purchase agreement to sell their respective shareholdings in Arctic Fish Holding. The transaction’s share price is NOK 100 per share.
The filing advises that Bremesco is selling 9,104,582 shares, NOVO is selling 1,389,236 and Neil Shiran Thorisson is selling 335,000 shares. Collectively, their 10,899,684 shares represent 34.2% of the shares in the company.
Once the transaction concludes these shareholders will not have any shares in Arctic Fish Holding.
In a statement, Síldarvinnslan CEO Gunnþór Ingvason, explained that salmon farming is a growing industry in Iceland and that the company is of the opinion that it offers “ample opportunities”.
He said, “We are purchasing a over a third part in the company, which is in a majority ownership of a Norwegian aquaculture company with extensive knowledge and experience in the field, and we are pleased to have the opportunity to work with the current shareholders in the further growth of the company.
“The company has been investing and growing in the last years and has ambitious plans for the future. We see opportunities for the cooperation of aquaculture companies in the area.”
