Mitsubishi makes Cermaq buyout offer

Norwegian fish farmer Cermaq’s board of directors is recommending taking an offer by Mitsubishi Corp. to buy the company out for approximately NOK 8.9 million (USD 1.4 million, EUR 1.1 million).

The offer of NOK 96 (USD 15.13, EUR 11.77) per share is the latest in a string of offers and counter-offers made for the company for more than a year now. In 2013, Cermaq was set to outbid China Fishery Group in a takeover bid of Peruvian fishmeal and fish oil company Copeinca, when Cermaq backed out amid offers by its rival, Marine Harvest, to buy Cermaq.

After snubbing Marine Harvest, Cermaq shareholders sold a controlling interest in the company to the Norwegian government at an auction in June 2013.

Mitsubishi’s current offer represents a 14.3 percent premium to Cermaq’s closing share price on 19 September, and an 18.3 percent premium to the three-month volume weighted average stock price on 19 September.

"Mitsubishi Corporation represents a strategic and industrial fit by strengthening Cermaq's presence and reach in the important Asian markets,” said Rebekka Glasser Herlofsen, chair of Cermaq’s board of directors. “Together Cermaq and Mitsubishi Corporation will become the world's second largest salmon farming company, set for further sustainable growth.”

Assuming the purchase is confirmed, Mitsubishi expects to close the transaction in November 2014. Cermaq will remain in Norway, and Mitsubishi has indicated plans to build on the Cermaq’s current workforce.

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