Norwegian fish farmer Austevoll Seafood yesterday bid to acquire fellow Norwegian seafood producer Leroy Seafood Group.
Austevoll offered 59 Norwegian krone ($9.52) per share after buying 5.4 million shares at the same price, increasing its ownership stake to 43.4 percent and triggering the mandatory offer for the rest of the Bergen, Norway, seafood company's stock.
The bid was at a premium of 30.5 percent to Leroy's closing price of 45.20 krone on Monday and values the entire company at about 3.16 billion Norwegian krone ($509.7 million).
"It is Austevoll's clear aim and intention to contribute to the development of LSG through further consolidation in the industry," according to an Austevoll statement.
Austevoll operates fish farms in Norway, Peru and Chile.
