SalMar takes full ownership of offshore subsidiary in deal worth £46.4m

Salmon farming heavyweight SalMar is taking full ownership of offshore farming subsidiary SalMar Aker Ocean (SAO), it said today.

SalMar, which owns 85% of SAO, has agreed to buy the 15% stake owned by Norwegian engineering giant Aker in return for one million new SalMar shares worth NOK 574 million (£41m), plus NOK 76m (£5.4m) cash. SAO’s name has been changed to SalMar Ocean.

“After thorough assessments and discussions, the two partners, SalMar and Aker, have concluded that the technological development and opportunities for offshore/semi-offshore aquaculture in and outside Norway can be handled more effectively as an integrated part of the SalMar Group,” SalMar said in a market announcement.

“The same applies to the opportunity to assess technical and regulatory framework conditions across locations and production areas.”

SAO chief executive Roy Reite and chief financial officer Trine Sæther Romuld have chosen to step down as the company now becomes an integrated part of SalMar.

“For Trine and me, it is natural to step down when the business is incorporated and led as a wholly owned subsidiary of SalMar. We are both pleased with what we have achieved together with the team and look forward to following the company further from the outside,” said Reite.

Anders Fjellheim, who has until now been operations director for SAO, will become the new managing director of SalMar Ocean. He will report to SalMar’s chief operating officer for Farming, Roger Bekken.

“I look forward to continuing the work of realising SalMar’s plans for offshore aquaculture,” said Fjellheim. “Through several production cycles in our facilities, we have already demonstrated and documented good results, and we have identified interesting and relevant new projects both in Norway and elsewhere.”

SalMar chief executive Frode Arnsten said: “Our ambitions and plans remain unchanged. Realising offshore aquaculture is one of several challenges that the industry and we at SalMar must solve to continue to grow and produce healthy salmon on the salmon’s terms. Roy, Trine, and the rest of the team at SalMar Aker Ocean deserve great thanks for bringing us to where we are today. Now, we at SalMar will together lift SalMar Ocean further to realise the significant potential that lies in offshore aquaculture."

Harvests in H1

SalMar Ocean operates two semi-offshore farms, Ocean Farm 1 in Central Norway and Arctic Offshore Farming in Northern Norway. In its report for Q4 2024, SalMar said smolts were stocked in Ocean Farm 1 in Q2 2024 and in Arctic Offshore Farming in Q3 2024. Both units were planned to be harvested in the first half of 2025, with Arctic Offshore Farming due to harvest in Q1, the report said. The company expects to produce 9,000 gutted weight tonnes in its semi-offshore farms this year.

SalMar has seen strong biological performance in the previous production cycles, with low mortality, strong growth, and few sea lice treatments.

The fish farmer, which co-owns Scotland’s second biggest salmon farmer, Scottish Sea Farms, said it the Q4 report that ongoing work for international expansion of offshore farming is progressing according to plan.