NTS, a wholly owned subsidiary of SalMar after the merger last year, has decided to explore strategic alternatives in Frøy "with the aim of maximizing value for its shareholders". In the statement released today, Gustav Witzøe's company says the decision has been made based on incoming interest regarding the service and wellboats company. NTS currently holds 62,269,112 shares in Frøy, representing approximately 72.11% of the shares and votes.
Frøy is a leading integrated aquaculture service provider to Norwegian salmon farmers. The company has a modern fleet of more than 80 vessels and a team of more than 800 aquaculture service specialists. Its service offering includes fish transport, grading, sorting, counting, net cleaning, disease and lice treatment, inspection, installation, and maintenance of salmon farming sites.
To assist in that strategic review, NTS has engaged DNB Markets as financial advisor and Advokatfirmaet BAHR AS as legal advisor. The review is expected to be completed within 2023 and, although a possible sale is what everyone is thinking about following this announcement, the company has stressed that no decision has yet been made. "No decisions have been taken and a transaction, if any, remains subject to market conditions", the announcement stated.
If such a transaction ultimately occurs, it would be in addition to another sale of an NTS subsidiary completed after the merger. Just before the end of the year, Mowi completed the acquisition of Arctic Fish, where Norway Royal Salmon owned a majority stake, a transaction agreed upon as part of the deal to pave the way for the merger of SalMar with NTS.
