Scottish Sea Farms has completed the acquisition of Grieg Seafood Hjaltland UK from Grieg Seafood, the selling company has confirmed.
In its latest filing on the Oslo Bors, Grieg Seafood said the company would now narrow its focus, resources, and investments to Norway and Canada, saying these are the farming regions with the largest potential for sustainable growth. Grieg CEO Andreas Kvame said following three years of restructuring and operational improvement, the Shetland business had been turned around.
“The region has improved sea lice control and survival significantly and delivered solid profits during the two previous quarters. I am pleased to say that we hand over operations in good shape,” Kvame said. “I am confident that the Shetland business is in good hands and that salmon farming will continue to create value for the local communities in Shetland for years to come.”
The deal received clearance from the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) earlier this month. This followed the announcement in June 2021 that Scottish Sea Farms had signed an agreement to acquire 100 percent of the shares in Grieg Seafood Hjaltland UK from Grieg Seafood for the price of GBP 164 million (USD 217.4 million, EUR 192.6 million). Included in the deal were the company’s freshwater hatchery, processing facility, and 21 marine farms around the Shetland Islands and Isle of Skye, which combined produced approximately 16,000 metric tons (MT) of Atlantic salmon in 2020.
Scottish Sea Farms, which is co-owned by Lerøy Seafood and SalMar, said the acquisition complements the geography of its own operations across mainland Scotland, Shetland, and Orkney, and will put it on track to produce 46,000 MT of salmon in 2022.
Photo courtesy of Scottish Sea Farms
