BREAKING: Grieg Seafood to sell its operations in Finnmark and Canada to Cermaq

Grieg Seafood has reached an agreement to sell its operations in Finnmark, Newfoundland and British Columbia to Cermaq Group, the company announced this morning via a stock exchange announcement.

The deal, which involves the full transfer of Grieg’s regional subsidiaries to Cermaq, values the businesses being sold at NOK 10.2 billion, or around EUR 855 million / USD 995 million, before taking into account any cash, debt, or typical working capital adjustments, Grieg said.

The transaction includes the sale of shares in Grieg's most northerly Norwegian salmon farming business, Grieg Seafood Finnmark, together with its two Canadian businesses in Newfoundland and British Columbia, namely Grieg Seafood Newfoundland AS and Grieg Seafood Canada AS.

The deal's completion is subject to regulatory review and authorisation from competition authorities, but Grieg stated it expects the transaction to be finalised during the fourth quarter of 2025.

Announcing the deal in a separate press statement, Cermaq CEO Steven Rafferty said the acquisition would "strengthen" Cermaq's competitiveness and "contribute to growth".

“We have profound respect for Grieg Seafood and their pioneering initiatives as a global company with a long-lasting legacy," Rafferty stated.

"With dedicated employees and operations in several regions where Cermaq operates today, we believe the companies are an excellent match with a common goal for sustainable and innovative operations. We are very honoured to get the opportunity to continue the operations that the Grieg family started over 30 years ago," he added.

"The combined force of the two companies provides a strong basis for producing more high-quality salmon and a stronger industry leader. Both companies are committed to enhancing fish welfare and minimizing environmental impact. We eagerly anticipate strengthening our collaborative efforts towards sustainable growth with the additional expertise and resources provided by Grieg," Rafferty said.

In advance of the sale, Grieg Seafood said it plans to implement an internal restructuring, which will see licences and biomass currently held by Grieg Seafood Norway AS transferred to two new entities: Grieg Seafood Rogaland Sjø AS, which will remain part of the company, and Grieg Seafood Finnmark Sjø AS, which will be included in the sale to Cermaq.

Following the divestment, Grieg Seafood indicated it will focus its salmon farming operations solely on the Rogaland region in southwestern Norway. The company stated it expects a harvest volume of 30,000 tonnes (GWT) from Rogaland in 2025 and claims it has a "well-invested platform for further growth" based on a successful post-smolt strategy.

Over the past months, Rogaland has emerged as Grieg's best-performing region. In the first quarter, Grieg reported that Rogaland achieved a 13% reduction in production costs compared to the same period last year, reinforcing the region’s role as a key driver of profitability for the group, while its output of superior quality fish rose from 57% to 83%. In its most recent operational update for the second quarter, Grieg reported that harvest volumes from Rogaland had more than tripled to 8,900 tonnes from the 2,800 tonnes achieved in Q2 2024.

The company said further information about its revised strategy will be provided during its second-quarter results presentation on 26 August 2025.

Grieg Seafood is currently being led by interim CEO Nina Willumsen Grieg, formerly Regional Director of Grieg Rogaland and a member of the Norwegian seafood group's founding family, who took over the position after former CEO Andreas Kvame resigned in March following a tumultuous 2024 in which Grieg's EBIT fell by nearly 99%.

Reporting the company's Q1 results in May, Willumsen Grieg said the company would now aim to “shift from growth to profitability”, with a renewed focus on Norway and a decision to scale back in Canada. "We will proritise initiatives that strengthen equity, reduce debt and protect cash flow," she said at the time.

"We are not happy with the results of the previous years," she stated. "The combination of an ambitious capex program, biological challenges and a turbulent geopolitical situation has left us with a financial situation that isn't sustainable."

The company has also undertaken a series of major management changes in recent months. In addition to the new CEO, Grieg also appointed a new CFO, Magnus Johannesen, who joined in February. In May, Grieg Seafood announced that its Chairman of the Board and company founder Per Grieg Jr. was stepping down, after 33 years with the company.

Meanwhile, Chief Strategy Director, Nina Stangeland, and Global Quality Assurance Director, Martin Mjos-Haugland departed the company in April, and as part of a broader cost-efficiency effort, Grieg laid off staff at its Bergen head office at the beginning of the year.