Norway-based Mowi has entered into a transaction agreement that will give it 100 percent of Torghatten Aqua AS’s seawater salmon farming business.
Mowi said the deal will see it carve-out and purchase 3.37 licenses, with a total of 2,628 metric tons (MT) of allowed biomass split between 1.37 commercial licenses, an exhibition license, and an education license. The company said it expects to use the new licenses to farm roughly 4,500 MT of gutted weight salmon annually.
Torghatten Aqua owns a portfolio of different aquaculture related ventures, including Helgeland Miljøfisk and Codfarm AS. The business that Mowi purchased comprises of salmon farming conglomerate located in production area 8 of Northern Norway. Mowi already owned 33.34 percent of Torghatten Aqua thanks to its acquisition of Nova Sea in 2025.
“Torghatten’s seawater farming business is a very good match with Mowi Region North and will further strengthen Mowi’s leading presence in Northern Norway,” Mowi CEO Ivan Vindheim said in a release. “The transaction will strengthen Mowi’s position in an area known for its excellent biological performance which is already core to Mowi Region North, and it supports our long-term strategy to sustainably grow our harvest volumes in a cost competitive way.”
As part of the transaction, Mowi will return the 33.34 percent stake it owned in Torghatten Aqua so that it can develop its non-seawater-based operations – effectively completely removing its ownership in the copmany. In total, the cash consideration on a net basis from Mowi to Torghatten amounts to NOK 293 million (USD 30.4 million, EUR 26.2 million), payable upon the close of the sale, Mowi said.
Torghatten Aqua Chair Frode Blakstad said Norway’s land rent tax was a main motivator for the sale.
“The reason why we are now choosing to sell is the effect that the land rent tax has on the earnings of smaller aquaculture companies, which only have activity in cage farming at sea,” Blakstad said. “The land rent tax favors large aquaculture players with activity throughout the value chain, such as Mowi, and makes it more difficult for smaller companies, such as Torghatten Aqua.”
With the sale of the sea-based operations, Torghatten will re-focus on its land-based activity.
“The agreement that has been entered into gives us the financial power to develop all areas of Torghatten Aqua,” Blakstad said. “The transaction is particularly important in ensuring continued high pressure on our focus on land-based farming.”
Blakstad said the company sees opportunities for land-based farming in Norway, and the funding from the sale will help it realize its goals.
“We are now financially equipped to seize these opportunities,” he said.
