November 10, 2006

UK provisionally clears Pan's Fish acquisition of Marine Harvest

The UK competition authority, the Competition Commission, has provisionally cleared Pan Fish's proposed acquisition of Marine Harvest.

Pan Fish's bid to acquire Marine Harvest had been mired in controversy, with the fishing industry in Scotland worried about the increasing dominance of the Norwegian company.

While Pan Fish has gained approval from Norwegian authorities on the planned merger, it faced widespread opposition in Scotland as fears of losses of jobs in the Scottish industry mounted.

In a summary of its provisional findings, the Competition Commission has concluded that the acquisition is not expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition.

Pan Fish's spokesman said the company is pleased with this provisional finding. The Competition Commission is expected to issue its final decision and report by 20 December 2006.

Pan Fish has earlier merged with Fjord seafood.

If the merger with Marine Harvest were to proceed as planned, Pan Fish would become the largest producer of Atlantic salmon in Europe and it would control up to half of Scottish salmon production.

Until recently Scottish producers were also worried that the new company would import live salmons from Norway and thus contaminate the gene pool of Scottish salmon. Pan-Fish, along with other major fish companies, laid those fears to rest as it publicised widely a statement saying no live fish would be imported.