Fish Farmer October 2021

SalMar v NTS

BY VINCE MCDONAGH

Battle royale

Two fish farming tycoons wanted Norway Royal Salmon, but only one was going to win

T

HEY grew up together on the same remote, picturesque island off the west coast of Norway. Frøya is where they s�ll live although they seldom meet up these days. Li�le could SalMar chief Gustav Witzøe and Helge Gåsø, head of NTS, know back then that one day they would confront each other head to head in one of the most drama�c power struggles the salmon industry has seen for many years. The prize was Norway Royal Salmon (NRS) – a medium-sized business but with big ambi�ons – and only one man could win it. For a few days in August it looked as if Witzøe had it in the bag, with a higher offer on the table for shareholders and the NRS board telling investors on two occasions to reject the overtures from NTS. But Gåsø had a couple of aces up his sleeve, which he used to outmanoeuvre his long-standing rival. They came in the shape of Eva Maria Kristoffersen, who runs the family company Egil Kristoffersen & Sønner, and Ingri Marie Sivertsen from the business investment company Nyhamn. They were also joined by Norway Fresh, another large investor. Together the two women held just over 20% of the shares and chose to accept the NTS offer of NOK 240 a share, NOK 30 lower than the SalMar price. The decision is es�mated to have cost Kristoffersen more than NOK 130m (£1.1m). So far she has remained reluctant to explain why she took the lower offer, but her business and that of NTS are known to have a high regard for each other.

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the battle for NRS (Vince)_v2.indd 38

Sivertsen was a li�le more forthcoming, saying she had acted in the best interests of the company (NRS) and the industry. Perhaps they thought SalMar was becoming a li�le too powerful. Who knows? Whatever the reasons, it gave NTS a 68% stake in NRS and turned it into one of the world’s largest salmon farming companies. Up to that point NTS’s fish farming ac�vity, operated by the subsidiary Midt-Norsk Havbruk (MNH) was rela�vely small. NTS is, however, very big in aquaculture support services such as shipping, wellboats and related ac�vi�es through another acquisi�on, Frøy. With Norway Royal Salmon now part of the family, NTS is set to rival the SalMars and Griegs of this world, especially when it comes to Arc�c Offshore Farming, a subsidiary set up to trial new technology in salmon farming that is currently under development. Gåsø told the Norwegian financial website e.24 that NTS was no longer an underdog, but one of the world’s largest salmon farmers with an annual produc�on target of 100,000 tonnes.

Above: Gustav Witzøe Left: Helge Gåsø (L) and Fish Minister Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen Opposite from the top: Norway Royal Salmon offshore farm; Eva

Maria Kristoffersen (L), Ingri Marie Sivertsen (R); Frøya Island; Salmar HQ,

Frøya

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12/10/2021 15:12:42