FiiZK Divests Lice Skirt Business to Hampidjan as Part of Strategic Streamlining
In a significant move to streamline its operations, FiiZK Group has announced the sale of its lice skirt production business, FiiZK Protection, to the Icelandic equipment supplier Hampidjan Group.
FiiZK’s decision to sell its lice skirt business is part of a broader strategy to concentrate on its innovative closed and semi-closed cage solutions for the aquaculture sector. This follows the company’s earlier sale of FiiZK Digital AS to seafood investor Bluefront in June 2024.
Jan Erik Kvingedal, managing director of FiiZK, explained the shift: “The aquaculture industry is increasingly recognising the biological and commercial benefits that closed and semi-closed cages bring. To date, FiiZK’s cage products have successfully completed more than 70 production cycles, demonstrating strong fish growth and no problems with lice and escapes. We aim to build on this success.”
The lice skirt business, based in Valsneset, Ørland municipality, northwest of Trondheim, Norway, generated approximately NOK 100 million ($9.1 million/€8.3 million) in revenue in 2023 and holds an 80% market share in Norway. This business will be rebranded following the completion of the transaction, expected in September 2024. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
While divesting the lice skirt business, FiiZK retains its facility at Mjåtveit, outside Bergen, West Norway. This site, employing about 20 people, manufactures technical textiles for closed and semi-closed fish cages and will be transferred to FiiZK Industries AS.
Ole Falk Hansen, chairman of FiiZK and CEO of Nekkar ASA, emphasized the importance of the Mjåtveit facility: “Our facility at Mjåtveit plays a key role in manufacturing materials for our semi-closed and closed fish cages. Keeping this business therefore supports FiiZK’s strategic direction.”
Going forward, FiiZK will focus on the sale of closed and semi-closed fish cages, with associated software, maintenance and services. A key part of this effort is FiiZK’s new closed cage called “Protectus”, which is based on the best solutions from the company’s three previous models, “Certus”, “Ecomerden” and “Starfish”. In addition, the company has recently launched “FiiZK FlekZii Cage», which is a semi-closed cage solution that reduces lice infestation.
