Cooke to Take Over Marine Harvest Salmon Operations in Shetland, Orkney

GLOBAL - Marine Harvest is to sell its integrated salmon farming operations, Meridian Salmon Farms Limited, in the Shetland and Orkney Islands, Scotland, to the Canadian fish farming company Cooke Aquaculture Inc.


The operations have a combined harvest volume of 17.4 thousand GWT estimated for 2014. The agreed Enterprise Value (EV) is £122.5 million, which corresponds to an EV/kg of approximately NOK 70. Closing of the transaction is expected in the second quarter.


The divestment is a consequence of the remedies set forth by the EU Commission for the approval of the Morpol transaction in September 2013. The EU Commission required Marine Harvest to divest farming capacity on the Shetland and Orkney Islands. The agreement is conditional on the EU Commission approving that the purchaser and the transaction as well as the sales terms satisfy these remedies.