Steinsvik snaps up Ocea
“This is a milestone for us,” says Bjørn M Apeland, commenting on the acquisition. “Our aim is to build a global company and we have great ambitions for the future. Both of the companies have leading products in the sector and the acquisition will allow us to extract synergies. This will contribute to an even greater focus on R&D and enable us to play an even more active role in technological development within the industry. Moreover, the acquisition will provide us with a number of new products, creating a basis for further growth. We realise that size is important, and this acquisition ensures that we will have a far higher volume base.”
The chairman of Ocea Gruppen AS, Dag Sørsdahl, says: “We believe that this is the right industrial solution for the company. Ocea has a lot to contribute, and we are selling a healthy company that is developing well in both Norway and Chile. Ocea has a number of new products, and Ocea Thermolicer will be a particularly important tool for the industry in the work being done to combat lice.”
The acquisition has been financed by the investment company Kverva AS.
“We believe that the industry represented by the suppliers to the aquaculture industry has great potential, and the combination of Ocea and Steinsvik presents an exciting investment opportunity. This has been a rapid process, and for this reason Kverva has financed Steinsvik’s acquisition of Ocea with the option of converting this to 50% ownership at a later date,” says Helge Moen, managing director of Kverva.
The Steinsvik Group has specialised in supplying products and solutions that can withstand harsh conditions to the aquaculture, maritime and oil and gas industries. The Group is based in Haugesund with offices/subsidiaries in Bergen, Stord, Trondheim, Frøya, Tromsø, Scotland, Chile and Vietnam.
Ocea develops and provides a broad range of equipment and software for all areas of the aquaculture industry. The Group is expected to have an aggregate turnover of roughly NOK 600 million in 2014.
