Land-based salmon farmer rings the bell.
Kjell Lorentsen is acting CEO of Gigante Salmon and founder of the Gigante Group. He said he was grateful for the cooperation with Rødøy municipality, Northern Norway, and the trust the company has received from investors.
“This project would never have been possible if we did not have Rødøy on the team,” Lorentsen said in a stock exchange announcement on Monday morning.
Construction of the land-based fish farm, which is due to be completed in 2023, will begin in August. The first harvest-ready salmon is scheduled to leave the plant in the second half of 2024.
20,000 tonnes
The facility is being built at Lille Indre Rosøy, and will have about 15 jobs. At full production, the company will produce 20,000 tonnes of salmon a year.
The share issue prior to the IPO raised EUR 22 million, and the company is valued at EUR 60 million. There are several reasons why Lorentsen chose to take the company on the stock exchange:
“There is no hiding the fact that it gives a valuation of the company, and it offloads risk, but it is also a hallmark of our organisation that we have had other co-owners in our projects. It has a great value for us to work with others, it is both educational and developing,” he said.
Oversubscribed
The share issue prior to the listing was repeatedly oversubscribed, and Lorentsen is pleased with the confidence the company has been faced within the market:
“Now we have so many co-owners that I no longer have the opportunity to call each one and thank them. There are many people in our organisation who have put in a great job to get to where we are today. The work to develop the project in Rødøy and prepare for the IPO has been a great job for our employees and advisors. It is therefore good to see that the market has faith in us, and that so many people want to be part of this project. Now we are looking ahead and ready to roll up our sleeves and start building,” said Lorentsen.