Chilean salmon farmer AquaChile has scheduled an extraordinary shareholders meeting on 31 July to approve a USD 340 million (EUR 290 million) capital increase designed to finance its investment plan, including acquisitions and mergers.
In a statement, the company confirmed that this capital increase would replace a USD 200 million plan agreed in a shareholders’ meeting in March 2018. The new amount would go to finance its investment plan and acquire new business units and opportunities, such as its May acquisition of Salmones Magallanes for USD 255 million (EUR 218.4 million).
“With these funds we contemplate materializing the purchase of Salmones Magallanes and executing our investment plan that we are carrying out to take advantage of growth opportunities and improved production for the company, with a focus on the XII region”, AquaChile General Manager Agustìn Ugalde said.
The company reconfirmed its plans to hold an initial public offering on Norway’s Oslo Børs index, which it said would expose it to a specialized investor and analyst base for the salmon industry. Apart from the advantages of being presented on the index, the firm also expects to achieve a better level of liquidity through the listing.
AquaChile had been planning production of around 110,000 metric tons (MT) of Atlantic salmon, Pacific salmon, trout, and tilapia. The Salmones Magallanes acquisition will add another 23,000 MT, according to its production in 2017, although its potential could reach 40,000 MT in the midterm, AquaChile said in the statement.
AquaChile exports its products to more than 35 countries, and has been present in the Chilean salmon farming industry for over 25 years.
