Norsk Hydro ASA has concluded an agreement with the Dutch company Nutreco Holding N.V. under which Nutreco will acquire Hydro’s salmon farming and distribution subsidiary Hydro Seafood AS. The purchase price is NOK 3.8 billion (EUR 468 million), which includes the acquisition of all shares and debt in Hydro Seafood. Hydro will book a pretax gain of approximately NOK 2.2 billion.
Initial bids were received from several interested parties, and final bids were invited before February 17. On March 11, Hydro decided to enter exclusive negotiations with Nutreco. There was a considerable gap between the monetary offer from Nutreco and from the closest competing bidders. Nutreco’s offer also fulfilled Hydro’s wish to secure further growth for the aquaculture operation which has been built up over a period of nearly 30 years. Today, Hydro Seafood is the world’s biggest producer of Atlantic salmon.
Nutreco has a leading role as a supplier of feed to aquaculture, as well as in fish farming, processing and marketing of farmed fish in a number of countries. Nutreco also has been an important player in Norwegian fish farming for 20 years, and through its subsidiary Skretting has been active in the development of the industry. After the acquisition of Hydro Seafood, Nutreco will use Bergen as its base to further develop its salmon-farming activities in Norway and internationally, with a marketing and sales organization that can supply salmon and processed salmon products to the global market.
After the integration of Hydro Seafood, Nutreco’s aquaculture operations will have an annual turnover of NOK 8 billion (EUR 1 billion), of which the Norwegian operations will account for 37 percent. The organization will have 5,000 employees, 1,200 of them in Norway. The company will have a production or sales presence in 18 countries.
The agreement on the sale of Hydro Seafood to Nutreco is dependent upon approval of authorities in different countries. The required documentation will be sent to the relevant authorities in the near future.