Abyss is a service vessel provider supporting the salmon farming industry in Norway and Iceland.
Photo: Abyss Group / Arcus.
Norwegian aquaculture technology supplier AKVA Group has announced it is selling off its stake in aquaculture workboat and marine services supplier Abyss Group AS.
The deal, notified in a stock exchange announcement on 12 March, sees AKVA sell its 21.55% ownership of the Norwegian service operations company to Arcus Infrastructure Partners, an independent fund manager investing in European infrastructure assets across telecommunications, transport and energy.
AKVA said the net proceeds from the sale will stand at approximately NOK 140 million (€12m), resulting in “a positive accounting gain”, whereby the transaction “will free up capital for continued development of AKVA’s core business segments”. The transaction is expected to be finalized during March 2025.
In a separate press release announcing the acquisition, Michael Allen, Arcus Partner and Head of Transport described Abyss as "a significant market player with an excellent track record, robust underlying growth trends and solid infrastructure characteristics”.
The company, established in 2000, is now the second-largest provider of service vessels in the salmon farming sector, with a fleet of 30 vessels, of which 24 are dedicated service vessels and six are inspection and diving vessels. Headquartered in Kristiansund, Norway, Abyss has five operational bases along the Norwegian coast and currently operates in both Norway and Iceland.
Victor Jensen, Founder and CEO of Abyss, described the acquisition of shares by Arcus as “a landmark transaction for the company, enabling us to achieve our ambitious goals for the company in the years to come,” and said the company aimed to “develop into one of the world's leading aquaculture service vessel companies”.
AKVA Group recently reported its results for the fourth quarter of 2024, having achieved an order intake amounting to almost NOK 1.1 billion (€94.4 million), despite a slight decline in revenues to NOK 792 million (€67.9 million) during the quarter.
AKVA said a key factor in this success was AKVA’s Sea-Based Technology (SBT) segment generating the best quarterly total in its history (NOK 946 million / €81.2 million), driven by sales of deep-water farming technology.
The Klepp, Rogaland-headquartered technology group, which describes itself as the "world's largest supplier of equipment and technology for aquaculture", has also secured several land-based aquaculture contracts in recent months, including a €30m agreement with Cermaq Chile for a new RAS smolt facility in the Los Lagos Region, and contracts with Icelandic land-based farmer Laxey for RAS grow-out modules.
