Salmar enters into an offer to buy Norwegian Royal Salmon

On Friday, Salmar announced a competing all-share offer in Norwegian Royal Salmon worth NOK 11.8 billion. NTS already has a lower width.

Salmar and the NTS are now battling to secure the Royal Norwegian Salmon, which is primarily engaged in salmon farming in Troms and Finnmark.

Ole Martin Wolde

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.Agricultural giant Salmar plans to make a voluntary cash offer to buy all outstanding shares in Norwegian Royal Salmon (NRS) for NOK 270 per share, while NRS shares closed at NOK 243 on Thursday, according to the exchange. advertisement.

This bid corresponds to a purchase price of NOK 11.8 billion, and the bid price represents a premium of 12.5 percent over the bid to the aquaculture group that NTS already owns on the NRS.

E24 has been in contact with NRS board member Karl-Johan Bakken, but has not said anything other than that “the board will issue a statement regarding Salmar’s offer shortly”. He doesn’t want to say anything about how any contact with Salmar happened during this process.

NTS increases its offer to buy Norwegian Royal Salmon

stock rose

NRS shares rose 13.3 percent to a price of NOK 276 on the Oslo Stock Exchange after the announcement. The company is priced at 12 billion NOK.

E24 has been in touch with Salmar CEO Gustav Witzøe, who points to CFO Trine Sæther Romuld:

– We’ve always been very interested in what NRS has built and delivered as a company. In terms of a specific process for actually submitting a bid, this was started by the fact that there was already another specific bid for the company, says Rommold.

She says they see significant synergies if Salmar and NRS merge, both in northern Norway and Iceland and within sea-based agriculture.

– It’s a company we’re testing that has many of the same cultural values as Salmar, she said.

When asked what she thought of the evolution of the bidding battle, she said it was up to NRS shareholders, and how they evaluated the various bids.

– We think we made a good show, both for today’s shareholders and for Salmar.

– If it gets this far, do you think you will get the green light from the competition authorities?

The process must go its own way. We’ve tendered unreservedly in terms of competition authorities approval, but some buildings need to be in place, Romold says.

So, you will buy Salmar NRS:

Salmar lists these reasons in the exchange’s announcement on Friday:

Both have long careers and extensive experience in salmon farming in northern Norway. The merger will facilitate optimization of capacity utilization for the combined MTB and site, as well as implementation of best practices in both operations and cost structure.
Norway’s new Royal Salmon smelting plant in Dåfjord outside Tromsø, combined with the existing Smolt capacity at Salmar and the Senja 2 and Tjuin plants under development, will be valuable resources that can ensure the right chick delivery at the right time, facilitating improved biological performance throughout value chain
Salmar’s new processing plant in Senga, Innovanor, will secure additional large volumes through consolidation, which will provide economies of scale through improved capacity utilization and logistics, as well as reducing biological risks.
Both parties have significant experience in sales and logistics, and the merger will provide improved access to customers around the world.
The potential merger of Icelandic salmon (controlled by Salmar) and Arctic fish (controlled by Norwegian royal salmon), both of which operate in Iceland’s Westfjords, would enable key synergies to be achieved through, for example, streamlining of offshore processes and optimizing structure in the chain Land value – including polishing, processing and sales
SalMar and Norway Royal Salmon have both made significant investments in offshore related farming technology, which offers significant synergistic potential. Together, the two parties will be a powerful force in the further development and realization of offshore aquaculture
The merger will enhance efficiency and capabilities, and pave the way for more sustainable growth of the parties

Back from the opponent

June 21 NTS informed They planned to sell the fish in Norway’s Royal Salmon aquaculture company within the legal deadline of four weeks to avoid having to bid for the rest of the shares in the company.

In fact, NTS has entered into an agreement with Måsøval Eiendom to buy shares in NRS, a purchase that means NTS’s contribution to Norway’s Royal Salmon expired at 30.84 percent – just above the 30 percent which imposes an obligation under Norwegian law to offer to buy the rest of the shares in the company. .

But in July, NTS reversed course and announced in a stock exchange announcement that it would buy into NRS instead. First, the bid was set at NOK 209 per share, while it was recently raised to NOK 240.

NTS is an aquaculture group dating back to 1879 when it was known as Namsos Damskipsselskap.

The Royal Norway Salmon Group is primarily engaged in salmon farming in Troms and Finnmark. In addition, the group owns property in three Norwegian companies associated with fish farming, as well as Arctic Fish in Iceland.

The offer lasts for four weeks

According to Friday’s announcement, Salmar set an acceptance rate of more than 50 percent on the bid. The offer period is four weeks.

In order to enable and ensure the implementation of the best offer, for the benefit of all NRS shareholders, Salmar requested the NRS Board of Directors to use the Board’s authorization approved at the Company’s general meeting on May 27, 2021 to conduct a private placement. Up to 4,357,219 new shares target the Best Offer Bidder, with a subscription price equal to the Best Offer Offer price. The NRS has confirmed that the Board is prepared to use the Board’s mandate accordingly.

– This benefits all interested parties. The NRS has a issuance license, which can be used to ensure you have more than 50 percent ownership, for example, and a guarantee of the best for NRS shareholders, said IR contact Håkon Husby in Salmar to TDN Direkt on Friday.

Naval analyst Carl-Emil Kjølås Johannessen at Pareto Securities said earlier in August that more people would be involved in the NRS fight as unlikely.

“Both because the price is starting to be completely fair, but probably equally because NTS is now in control of close to 40 percent, and then it becomes difficult for another player to take control of the company,” he told E24.