Torghatten Aqua is looking for new investors to continue its blue sector projects. The breeding company from Helgeland, Norway, is seeking up to NOK 80 million in new capital through an issue organized by Folkeinvest. By Wednesday morning the issue had already raised more than NOK 51 million from 338 shareholders. This is a promising start, especially considering that there are still 21 days left before closing.
Torghatten Aqua currently consists of three investment areas within the blue sector. The first, Campus BLÅ is dedicated to training in the blue sector. The second, the Norwegian Aquaculture Center, is dedicated to traditional salmon farming at sea with exhibition and tourism facilities, including accommodation and a restaurant. The third, Aquaculture Innovation, is dedicated to land-based farming.
"In 2021, 3,322 tonnes of salmon were produced on the group's permits. The company also has investments in other business activities, and a significant part of the result in recent years has come from these investments", notes the company's CEO, Paul Birger Torgnes.
"The capital raising is an important strategic move that really positions us for the future", Torgnes continues. "We have great faith in the projects within land-based production of food fish, smolt and post-smolt. The potential within education in the blue industry is significant and at the same time traditional production of salmon in the sea gives solid results, and the production of cod in the sea will be exciting going forward", he concludes.
Last year, in 2021, Torghatten Aqua posted an annual profit of NOK 180.7 million, an increase of NOK 65 million over 2020, and the best the company has achieved in its 25-year history. According to the statement released on the occasion of this share issue, that profit was allocated to the company's equity as part of its growth plans. "This has been reinvested in further developing profitable and sustainable businesses in the marine industries", they say.
"We are very satisfied with the result, which positions the company in a very good way for the ambitious and concrete plans the group has, both through the school investment in Campus BLÅ and land-based farming in Aquaculture Innovation", says Frode Blakstad, president of Torghatten Aqua. However, that is not enough. "The plans on Toftøya are so extensive that there will also be a need for new investors and partners", he continues.
With this campaign organized by Folkeinvest, the company now wants to bring local people to join the project. "Local and national involvement is important for the entire group. We are betting on further growth, with a number of exciting projects. The local community and the Norwegian identity are important to us and we want them involved in the development of value in the group going forward", says Paul Birger Torgnes, CEO.
This commitment to local investment is in addition to the one the company made last year when it invited employees to join the company's shareholder base. The result was a success, with 89 percent of employees becoming co-owners of their workplace.
"It is fantastic that almost all of our colleagues wanted to buy shares in their own workplace and in the group", says the group's president, Frode Blakstad. "It clearly shows that our employees have faith in the investment going forward, and that we will build strong businesses with local roots together", he adds.
In Folkeinvest's current campaign – to which interested parties can subscribe through its website -, Torghatten Aqua wants to raise between NOK 40 million and NOK 80 million. The company has already subscribed to more than NOK 40 million. If successful, it will continue to develop its existing business. "We will take a position as the leading player in training in the blue sector through Campus BLÅ, and build facilities that are at the forefront of technology and sustainability for the production of salmon on land through Aquaculture Innovation. Through the Norwegian Aquaculture Centre, we already have permits for the traditional production of over 4,000 tonnes of salmon annually", they say in the presentation of the project, which can be viewed on the investment platform.
Torghatten Aqua AS, formerly known as Torgnes AS, is a company with roots on the coast of Helgeland, Norway, that develops profitable and sustainable businesses in the marine industries. The group, consisting of several companies, is constantly exploring possibilities in the marine industries, both through traditional aquaculture as well as new methods both at sea and on land and with new species. Torghatten Aqua has several companies in Toft, Norway, that work with the resources and opportunities of the ocean from different perspectives: they do research on sustainable aquaculture, have an exhibition facility for aquaculture, farming operations, and a tourist facility with accommodation, and a restaurant where they serve the end product of what they do, i.e. fish and seafood.
