September 29, 2010

Norway's Lerøy Seafood acquires stake in Sjøtroll Havbruk AS

Leroy Seafood Group ASA on Tuesday (Sep 28) acquired a 50.71% interest in Norwegian salmon farmer Sjotroll Havbruk AS from Danish fish feed maker BioMar AS.

Expected to be finalised by mid-November, the deal is valued at NOK540 million (US$91.2 million)-NOK408.5 will be paid in cash, while the remainder will be paid in the form of one million shares in Lerøy at a price of NOK131.5 per share.

Sjotroll Havbruk holds 25 salmon and salmon trout-farming licenses, and once the purchase goes through Lerøy will hold a total of 130 salmon and salmon trout-farming licenses in Norway. With about 250 employees, Sjotroll Havbruk is also a processor and owns a 27.5% stake in the breeding company SalmoBreed AS.

This year, Sjøtroll Havbruk is projected to produce 26,000 tonnes (gutted weight) of salmon and salmon trout.

As a result of the buyout, Leroy's central activities in the areas of fish-farming, processing, sales and distribution allow it to benefit from significant synergies, the company said in a statement.