Ocea acquires Mercatus

On the selling side is mainly one of the founders of Mercatus, Knut Eikeland. Eikeland and the other founder, Michael Dorfman, will both continue as employees of Mercatus as market director and technical director, respectively. The General Manager of Ocea, Mons-Ove Hauge, is delighted with the new acquisition:”With the software of Mercatus as part of our product portfolio, we are able to offer our customers the best in terms of production management, planning and control. Mercatus has over the last few years achieved recognition as an innovative and world leading company, and is already the main solution supplier to demanding customers like Marine Harvest, Salmar, Camanchaca and Codfarmers. To have Mercatus on our team is a milestone in the development of Ocea.” Board Chairman Knut Eikeland in Mercatus emphasizes the industrial aspect of the ownership change:”Our customers are growing bigger, and we expect them in the future to focus on fewer and stronger suppliers. As part of Ocea, Mercatus will be able to strengthen our sales efforts and benefit from the expected synergies within the group. It is also important for us that our 32 employees will not be negatively affected by the change in ownership. On the contrary, with the plans and prospects of Ocea and Mercatus we will need even more competent staff members for exciting assignments worldwide.” Mercatus will still be based in Florø, Western Norway. As for Chile, a coordination of the efforts of Ocea and Mercatus is expected, to reap the benefits of increased market penetration. During the last few years, Mercatus has expanded to develop software also for the agricultural industry. This work will continue under the ownership of Ocea. Ocea’s main products are feeding systems, feeding barges as well as cages. Ocea is the result of the merger between Ørsta Aqua Systems AS and Arena Aquaculture AS, and is based in Austevoll, Western Norway. Mercatus develops software for the aquaculture and agriculture industries. Based in Florø, Western Norway, it also has offices in Puerto Varas, Chile and Aberdeen, Scotland – with a total of 32 employees.