NTS increases offer to Norway Royal Salmon shareholders

Norwegian aquaculture group NTS ASA has raised its offer to buy Norway Royal Salmon (NRS) shareholdings from NOK 209 (USD 23.66, EUR 20.16) per share to NOK 240 (USD 27.17, EUR 23.15), and has extended the offer period by 10 days to 26 August, 2021.

In a stock exchange announcement on 11 August, NTS announced it had entered into an agreement to purchase a total of 378,883 shares in NRS at the price of NOK 240 per share. This shareholding corresponds to approximately 0.87 percent of the shares in NRS.

As a result of the increase, NTS has also increased the offer price in the mandatory offer to all NRS shareholders. 

Shareholders in NRS who have already accepted the original offer of NOK 209 per share will also benefit from the increased offer, NTS said.

Of the 379,883 shares that NTS entered into a purchase agreement on 11 August, a total of 95,529 shares were acquired from close associates of NTS ASA General Manager Harry Bøe, and 39,384 were acquired from NTS Board Chairman Odd Reidar Øie and close associates of him. NTS now directly and indirectly owns a total of 16,072,182 shares in NRS, corresponding to approximately 36.89 percent. 

The group has also received acceptances corresponding to approximately 0.01 percent, a total of approximately 36.9 percent of outstanding shares and voting rights in NRS.

Following a review of NTS’s original offer in July, the board of directors at NRS unanimously recommended that shareholders reject the offer, saying that the price did not reflect the underlying values in the fish-farming company.

In a 12 August statement, NRS said its board of directors will assess the revised offer together with its advisers and make a statement in due course. At the same time, the evaluation of strategic options, announced on 21 July, 2021, will continue.

“Shareholders are encouraged to in any event refrain from accepting the revised offer until the very end of the extended acceptance period,” it said.

Established in 1992, NRS currently has 36,085 metric tons (MT) of maximum allowed biomass (MAB) for salmon farming in Troms and Finnmark in Norway, and 17,800 MT MAB for salmon farming and 5,300 MT MAB for trout farming in Iceland through the company Arctic Fish. It also holds a minority interest in two associated Norwegian fish farming companies which together own nine fish farming licenses.

NRS aims to harvest a total of 52,000 MT of salmon this year, of which 40,000 MT will be produced in Norway.   

Photo courtesy of Norway Royal Salmon