The decision brings the companies one step closer to consolidation.
The Norwegian Competition Authority has today approved SalMar’s planned acquisition of all the shares in NTS, and thus also the merger between SalMar and NTS ‘subsidiary Norway Royal Salmon (NRS).
“Even though the Norwegian approval has been granted, the offer and the merger are still conditional on receiving further approvals from competition authorities, including the EU Commission,” SalMar wrote in a statement on Friday morning.
As announced at the end of the offer period, SalMar has received acceptances from approximately 52.69 per cent of the shares in NTS in the offer. SalMar currently owns no shares in NTS.
SalMar has a production capacity of 175,000 tonnes of salmon. NTS / NRS is 124,000 tonnes. Together, a newly merged company will become the world’s second largest salmon farmer.
Arctic Securities is the financial advisor and settlement agent and the law firm BAHR is the legal advisor to SalMar.
