Mørenot continues to strengthen its position as a leading supplier within aquaculture and fisheries.
For some time, Mørenot has had a strategic aim to establish a strong position on plastic cages for fish farming. With the acquisition of Hvalpsund Net, a great baseline for future growth on plastic cages will be one of several exciting opportunities materializing. Overall, Mørenot and Hvalpsund will be able to better serve common and new customers with innovative and efficient products and solutions. [factbox]
“Through hard work and solid dedication for a long period of time, Hvalpsund Net has been developed into an agile company with strong customer relationships, and a safe and good workplace for its employees. Mørenot, which provides solutions for sustainable harvesting of seafood, will combined with Hvalpsund be able to offer more competitive solutions and develop even more innovative products across all markets,” says Arne Birkeland, CEO of Mørenot, in a press release.
Hvalpsund Net, which supplies equipment and services to customers in fisheries and aquaculture, has grown steadily over many years based on the development of new and innovative products and close and strong customer relationships.
“The companies have unique strengths and opportunities that will now be extracted to an even greater extent. We will continue to develop the position Hvalpsund has built on plastic cages, nets and fishing gear by investing in further product development across the product portfolio. At the same time, we will continue to deliver individual products separately, but at the same time also develop complete and integrated cage solutions in some markets,” says Birkeland.
Last year, FSN Capital, a Northern-European investment fund, acquired Mørenot. Its strategy is to partner with the founding families to further develop the Group’s already strong position in aquaculture and fisheries. The acquisition of Hvalpsund is the 4th time FSN and the other investors have invested additional capital to grow and develop Mørenot with the strategy to become the leading supplier to fisheries and aquaculture.
“The acquisition of Hvalpsund is very exciting and offers many new avenues for further growth. We fully support the very offensive growth journey undertaken by the Mørenot mgmt. team. Hvalpsund and their employees are a fantastic addition to Mørenot. Together, the companies will continue to support customers in the seafood industry, create a safe and prosperous workplace for all employees and be an important contributor to the local communities,” says Ola Kvalheim, Investment Manager at FSN Capital.
Peter Poulsen, who joined the company in 1966 and took over as CEO in 1974, have together with his family been majority shareholders in Hvalpsund Net since 1974. All the previous owners of Hvalpsund will reinvest a significant share of the proceeds in Mørenot and remain an active part of the future development of the partnership.
Kvalheim applauds the Poulsen family for the solid work on building a great company, wish all the former owners welcome both as fellow shareholders and colleagues in Mørenot and are anxiously looking forward to a prosperous partnership together.
Both the employees, the management and the owners of Hvalpsund Net are very happy to have Mørenot as owner and partner.
“Hvalpsund Net and Mørenot together is a great fit and will strengthen our efforts to continuously develop the business and organization to the best of our employees and customers. It was important for us to bring in a partner who shared our values and visions and wanted to invest for the future,” says Peter Poulsen, CEO of Hvalpsund Net.
He believes that the new owner brings many exciting opportunities to further develop the organization.
“Mørenot is the leading supplier to the aquaculture and fishing industry globally and it will give us a fantastic opportunity to build on each other’s strengths, knowledge and experience to deliver even better products to our customers,” says Poulsen.