April 25, 2007

Norway's Grieg Seafood acquires Hjaltland Seafarms in US$80 million deal

Norwegian seafood company Grieg Seafood ASA announced on Tuesday (24 April) that it is acquiring Norwegian fish farming company Hjaltland Seafarms AS in a deal worth NOK480 million (US$80 million).

The deal includes the purchase of Hjaltland Seafarms UK Ltd, which operates fish farms on the Shetlands Islands, processing company Lerwick Fish traders Ltd and sales company Shetland products Ltd. Hjaltland Seafarms reported a turnover of NOK431m in 2006.

The acquisition would boost Grieg Seafoods' production capacity, currently at 100,000 tonnes, by 30 percent, furthering the company's goal of becoming one of the world's largest fish farming businesses.

The company has operations in Norway, Canada and the UK and last week submitted an application to list on the Oslo Stock Exchange. It acquired Target Marine, a fish farming company in British Columbia in February. The company is the largest producer of Coho salmon in North America. Grieg Seafoods last October merged with the Volden Group to form the third largest fish farming company in Norway. 

Norway's two largest fish farming companies are Panfish and Leroey.