Danish land-based salmon farmer Atlantic Sapphire has been formally approved by the Oslo Stock Exchange to list on the exchange’s main market, the Oslo Børs, no later than 12 June, according to a stock exchange notice issued 29 April.
The move from the Merkur Market Exchange to the Oslo Stock Exchange comes after the company announced that it had fully executed the USD 210 million (EUR 192.1 million) debt refinancing package it signed with Norwegian bank DNB earlier this year. The Norwegian banks Arctic Securities and DNB Markets acted as joint global coordinators for the listing.
The company's shares are expected to be listed on the exchange on 5 May.
The Oslo Stock Exchange stipulated that, prior to its listing, Atlantic Sapphire must satisfy the listing requirements for Oslo Børs. In order to do so, the company held a general meeting on 16 April to convert to an LLC, change the composition of its board of directors, establish a nomination committee, amend certain provisions in its articles of association, and grant an authorization to the board of directors to raise convertible debt.
As a consequence of the proposed conversion to a public, Johan E. Andreassen vacated his position as managing director of Atlantic Sapphire but will remain on the board. Karl Øystein Øyehaug, the finance director of Atlantic Sapphire’s U.S. operations, has been elected to take the position as managing director, while continuing his duties as finance director.
Andreassen will continue to hold the positions of chairman and CEO of the company's U.S. operations, despite a recommendation from the Norwegian Corporate Governance Committee that the move is not advisable as the company prepares to list on Oslo Børs. The Oslo Stock Exchange recommends that companies listed there follow the guidelines that NUES has drawn up, one of which is that it is not recommended that the management and the board of a company consist of the same people.
“A listing on the main list of the Oslo Stock Exchange is another positive step for the company. We are confident that the changes we are making will provide maximum continuity and competence in the board and management of Atlantic Sapphire,” Andreassen said. “This is in line with feedback from the board and key shareholders of maintaining my strategic and operational role delivering performance in the U.S. and Denmark. We’re proud to start harvesting American-produced, healthy, and sustainable salmon in the third quarter of 2020, eliminating air freight of a protein that is today primarily imported into the U.S. from other continents.”
Atlantic Sapphire spokesperson Lola Navarro confirmed that the company expects its new 60,000-metric-ton processing plant in Miami, Florida, to open in the third quarter of this year. The site is expected to produce 10,000 metric tons of salmon annually under the first phase of development. Most of that salmon will be sold fresh, although some frozen salmon and other products will be produced as well.
Navarro said that neither the company's U.S. or Denmark operations expect to have significant slow-downs due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Photo courtesy of Atlantic Sapphire
