Sale means oil's well for salmonid residue refiner Biomega
Acquisition by fellow refiner should safeguard jobs and ensure continued operations
Biomega, a Norwegian company that processes salmonid residual raw materials into marine proteins and marine oils as ingredients for animal feed and human nutrition, is changing owners in a lifeline deal.
The company, which has been facing financial and structural challenges, is being bought by fellow Norwegian firm GC Rieber AS from American investor AMERRA Capital Management.
The acquisition includes the entire Biomega Group, including Biomega Norway AS and Biomega Denmark A/S. Biomega will continue as a separate portfolio company in the GC Rieber Group, Biomega said in a press release.
The aim of the acquisition is to ensure continued operations, safeguard jobs and further develop Biomega’s role in the value chain for the utilisation of marine raw materials from salmon and trout. Products made by GC Rieber’s companies include omega-3 concentrates derived from fish and microalgae.
Unique technology
“Biomega has a strong professional environment and a unique technology that upgrades marine residual raw materials into high-quality ingredients and contributes to a circular value chain in the aquaculture industry,” said Espen Aanderud, incoming chairman of Biomega and chief financial officer and investment director of GC Rieber AS.
“At the same time, the company is in a demanding situation. We are entering as owners because we believe there is great value creation potential in the company, and because we believe we can make a difference as a long-term owner who will contribute growth capital and industrial expertise.”
Biomega has offices in Bergen, and production facilities at Skaganeset in Øygarden municipality and in Hirtshals in Denmark.
"At Biomega, we were early to realise that residual raw materials are not waste, but a resource that can be processed into important products. We have built a business that has both been a problem solver for the industry and has gradually become a central part of value creation in a circular value chain,” said Biomega Group chief executive Geir Olav Melingen.
Will provide capital
Jan Roger Bjerkestrand, chief executive of GC Rieber AS, said the company had worked with fish oil for more than 100 years, and had invested and scaled up production at omega-3 oil producer GC Rieber VivoMega in Kristiansund.
“We are now bringing that experience into our work with Biomega,” said Bjerkestrand.
GC Rieber will provide the necessary capital and work closely with Biomega’s employees and suppliers to stabilise operations and build a robust foundation for further development.
The completion of the transaction is subject to certain commercial conditions being met, which the parties expect to occur shortly.
Continuous hydrolysis
Biomega was established in Bergen in 2000, and currently has around 60 employees. It has developed a patented technology for continuous enzymatic hydrolysis to refine residual raw materials from Atlantic salmon into functional ingredients, with separation of proteins, oils and mineral fractions, among other things.
In 2022, Biomega completed a new and modern facility in Hirtshals, Denmark, designed as a next-generation production platform for gentle further processing of salmon raw materials into premium ingredients. Biomega currently supplies ingredients to the human nutrition and petfood markets, with headquarters at Marineholmen in Bergen.
