October 31, 2007

 

Norway's Cermaq acquires Arctic Seafood

 

 

Norway's Cermaq ASA has announced Arctic Seafood Holding AS has accepted a conditional offer to acquire the company.

 

The offer is conditional upon due diligence, final sale and purchase agreement and approval from the board of Cermaq ASA.

 

Arctic Seafood Holding AS holds nine fishing licenses in Norway. The operations are self-sufficient with smolt from the wholly-owned Bunes Fisk AS in Nordland.

 

Arctic Seafood Holding AS also owns a processing plant in Nordland.

Established in 1995, Cermaq ASA's principal activity is the production of salmonid feed and farmed salmon and trout and research in aquaculture. The company warded off a merger attempt by Fjord Seafood in 2005.

 

The fish feed business of the company's subsidiary, EWOS, is just behind Nutreco as the second largest global supplier of fish feed for farmed salmon and trout.

 

One-year sales growth last year for Cermaq was slightly over 50 percent, with revenue at US$1.2 billion and profits at US$150 million.

 

The company's mainstream business operates salmon and trout farms.

 

Both businesses have operations in Canada, Chile, Norway, and Scotland.

 

The Norwegian government originally held close to 80 percent of Cermaq, but sold most of it in an IPO in 2005. The company is now 34 percent government-owned.