The Kingfish Company has chosen Vincent Erenst as its next CEO following the resignation of former CEO Ohad Maiman in fall 2022.
Erenst was chosen by the company's board of directors and will be recommended for the position at the company’s next general meeting of shareholders, to be held “early 2023.” If approved, Erenst will start in the position 6 February, 2023.
News of the appointment came just hours before the start date of a subsequent offering by The Kingfish Company for the conditional private placement of 24,224,781 new shares in the company at a price of NOK 8.41 (USD 0.84, EUR 0.79) per share – raising gross proceeds of roughly NOK 203.7 million (USD 20.4 million, EUR 19.3 million). According to a stock exchange filing by Kingfish, the subscription period for the offering commenced on 3 January and will close on 16 January, 2023.
The company's share offering being directed to existing shareholders is moving forward after the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets approved the move. The new offering is being fully underwritten by Stolt-Nielsen M.S. Ltd., Creadev international S.A.S, Rabo Participates B.V., Claris B.V., Kverva Finans AS, and a.s.r. Asset Management.
Erenst has more than 35 years of experience in aquaculture companies, most recently serving as the COO of Barramundi Group. Prior to that role, he served as the COO of Greek sea bass and sea bream producer Avramar.
“We are very pleased to propose Vincent Erenst as the new CEO of The Kingfish Company. He has an impressive track record in driving performance improvements and value creation across a broad range of businesses in the aquaculture sector,” Kingfish Company said in a release. “We are convinced that Vincent is a very suitable CEO to bring The Kingfish Company to the next level of performance.”
Erenst said he is “thrilled to take on this new challenge and responsibility.”
“With a best-in-class product, cutting edge RAS technology and a strong and motivated team, The Kingfish Company is perfectly positioned to further implement its growth strategy,” Erenst said. “I am very proud to take the lead of a great team and will put all my efforts into getting The Kingfish Company to the next level in the coming years.”
The Kingfish Company is currently expanding its land-based yellowtail recirculating aquaculture system in the Netherlands, and the company has received all the permits it needs to begin construction of a new facility in Jonesport, Maine, U.S.A. A group of local residents are planning to appeal the permits to stop the Maine-based project, But Kingfish Maine told SeafoodSource that it was unworried by the appeals.
Photo courtesy of Kingfish Company
