Bergen, Norway-headquartered Pelagia AS has signed an agreement to acquire 100 percent of Norsk Fiskeindustri Invest AS (NFI), eight months after acquiring full ownership of Hordafor.
Pelagia is a supplier of fish and animal feeds, protein concentrates, fishmeal, fish oil, and through its subsidiary Epax, a producer of concentrated marine-based omega-3 fatty acids for dietary supplement and pharmaceutical preparations.
Its acquisition of NFI from previous owner Arne Stang AS gives it control of NFI’s majority stake in Husøy Eiendom Karmøy AS, an Avaldsnes, Norway real estate firm; and Karmsund Protein AS, an Avaldsnes, Norway-based producer of fish meal and fish oil. The deal, signed 28 March, 2022, requires approval from Norwegian competition authorities. Terms of the deal were not announced.
In July 2021, Pelagia acquired Bekkjarvik, Norway-based Hordafor, which utilizes byproducts from the salmon farming industry to produce oil and protein, for NOK 477 million (USD 55 million, EUR 46.5 million), from Partrederiet Karoløs ANS and a smaller shareholder.
Pelagia operates 28 facilities in Norway, United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark, and Ukraine. It is a 50-50 joint venture of Austevoll Seafood ASA and Kvefi AS. In a 3 March statement, Pelagia said it had suspended its operations in Ukraine indefinitely following Russia’s invasion.
“Pelagia strongly condemns Russia’s military attacks on Ukraine. This attack is a serious violation of international law and puts innocent people’s lives at risk,” it said. “Pelagia’s vision is ‘It’s all about the fish.’ The situation calls for ‘It’s all about peace.’ We stand in solidarity with Ukraine.
In February 2022, Pelagia released its year-end financial report, in which it listed nearly NOK 9.9 billion (USD 1.1 billion, EUR 1 billion) in revenue in 2021, up from NOK 8.8 billion (USD 1 billion, EUR 909 million) in 2020. Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) topped NOK 1 billion (USD 114.2 million, EUR 103 million), up from NOK 655 million (USD 74.8 million, EUR 67.7 million) in 2020. It reported a decrease in feed raw material related to blue whiting and sandeel and an increase in food production related to its capelin and mackerel production and sales.
Photo courtesy of Pelagia
