Israeli investment company Israel Corp. is taking a 15 percent stake in Norwegian aquaculture services and equipment provider AKVA Group.
The two parties will also partner in attracting investments for land-based projects based on AKVA solutions and technology.
The investment will be completed through a private placement of 3,333,430 newly issued shares, corresponding to approximately 10 percent of the current outstanding shares in AKVA, at a subscription price of NOK 96.50 (USD 11.23, EUR 9.59) per share and an aggregate amount of NOK 321.7 million (USD 37.4 million, EUR 32 million), as well as purchases of minimum 2,166,730 shares from existing AKVA shareholders – also for NOK 96.50 per share – and a total aggregate purchase amount of up to NOK 209.1 million (USD 24.3 million, EUR 20.8 million).
As part of the transaction, Israel Corp. will become entitled to appoint one board member in AKVA as long as it holds a minimum 12 percent ownership position in the company. In addition, for a period of 24 months following the closing of the investment and as long as it holds at least 12 percent of AKVA’s shares, it is entitled to participate in any capital raising.
Egersund Group AS will still hold majority ownership in AKVA.
"We are very pleased to welcome Israel Corp. as a long-term, strategic shareholder in AKVA. We believe that Israel Corp.’s global business experience and technology background will contribute to our goal to build a world-leading offering of technical and digital solutions within sea and land-based aquaculture,” AKVA CEO Knut Nesse said. "This transaction will enable AKVA to accelerate the execution of our current strategy, to significantly step up our innovation agenda, and to transform our land-based strategy,”
AKVA and Israel Corp. have furthermore agreed to work towards establishing an investment platform for investments in land-based aquaculture facilities worldwide, using AKVA technology and solutions. They expect to contribute USD 10 million (EUR 8.5 million) each to the platform or to land-based aquaculture projects worldwide, with the goal of raising further commitments from co-investors and partners to reach a total of up to USD 100 million (EUR 85.4 million).
Israel Corp. CEO Yoav Doppelt said the company looks forward to working with AKVA to accelerate growth in sustainable food production and further develop its new partner’s technological leadership within the aquaculture industry.
“Our discussions with AKVA convinced us that AKVA is a leading global player in the aquaculture industry, and best-positioned to capture the global land-based opportunity,” Doppelt said.
Meanwhile, AKVA has confirmed that it has been awarded the contract for the full grow-out recirculation aquaculture system (RAS) project from the Norwegian company AquaCon AS.
AquaCon AS is planning to build a new land-based salmon grow-out facility in Cambridge, Maryland, U.S.A. The value of AKVA’s delivery is estimated to be USD 150 million (EUR 128.1 million) for the first phase (16,000 metric tons). The contract will see AKVA and Israel Corp. jointly participate in a USD 5 million (EUR 4.3 million) convertible loan, and have the option to invest an additional USD 15 million (EUR 12.8 million), both under certain conditions.
AKVA delivered second-quarter 2021 revenues of NOK 832 million (USD 96.8 million, EUR 82.7 million), a decrease of 3 percent compared with the corresponding period of last year. Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) for the quarter was NOK 79 million (USD 9.2 million, EUR 7.9 million), while its net profit amounted to NOK 16 million (USD 1.9 million, EUR 1.6 million). AKVA’s order intake in Q2 2021 amounted to NOK 900 million (USD 104.7 million, EUR 89.5 million), with a backlog of NOK 1.9 billion (USD 221.1 million, EUR 188.8 million) at the end of June.
Photo courtesy of AKVA Group
