SalMar ASA has after the close of the Oslo Stock Exchange on Thursday 4 April 2013 signed an agreement with a group of shareholders led by Hofseth International AS for the acquisition of 27.85 per cent of the shares in Villa Organic AS. The purchase price is around NOK 100 million. SalMar ASA already controls 8.43 per cent of Villa Organic's shares, and following this latest acquisition will exercise negative control of the company.
Villa Organic AS is a fully integrated aquaculture group, operating along the entire value chain. The fish farming business is located in Finnmark, northern Norway. The group has a total of 16 licences for the production of farmed salmon, and expects to harvest 13,000 tonnes in 2013.
SalMar wishes to strengthen its operations in northern Norway. Following the acquisition of 10 licences in February 2012, SalMar entered into a long-term collaboration with Villa Organic AS in Laksefjord in Finnmark. This acquisition will strengthen the already well-established collaboration between Villa Organic AS and SalMar. Hofseth International wishes to concentrate on its core business, which is processing and sales. SalMar has for several years provided Hofseth International with salmon, and intend to continue this cooperation in future. Both parties are therefore very pleased to have reached agreement on the transfer of these shares.
For more information, please contact:
Yngve Myhre, CEO, tel: +47 916 30 174
Trond Tuvstein, IR, tel: +47 918 53 139
E-mail: ir@salmar.no