Virtual view of Samherji's Salmon Garden. The facility is located in Reykjanes, in HS Orka's Resource Park, adjacent to the geothermal power plant.
Image: Samherji hf.
Samherji Fish Farming, a subsidiary of Iceland's Samherji hf., announced today it has completed the financing for Phase 1 of its Salmon Garden, the new land-based aquaculture facility located on the Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland, that it announced in March 2023. The total proceeds - secured through a private placement of shares and a syndicated loan - amount to EUR 235 million.
Construction will be carried out in three phases. Operations are expected to begin in the first quarter of 2027, following the completion of Phase 1. Once completed, the facility will create around 100 new direct jobs, and when at full capacity, the Salmon Garden will produce 30,000 tons per year.
"We are very pleased that the financing for the Salmon Garden has been finalised," said Thorsteinn Már Baldvinsson, CEO of Samherji and Chairman of Samherji Fish Farming. "The strong participation from domestic and international banks and investors reflects their confidence in the project. From the outset, we set a clear goal of bringing external investors on board, which has now been successfully achieved."
As mentioned, the Phase 1 financing of Samherji's new land-based project in Reykjanes consists of two components: an equity private placement of EUR 125 million, and a syndicated loan of EUR 110 million led by Íslandsbanki, with participation from Landsbankinn, Nordea, and Eksfin - Eksportfinansiering in Norway.
Regarding the equity capital, Samherji hf. - which owns 99% of the shares of Samherji Fish Farming - will contribute approximately half. The remainder will be completed by a group of investors led by the Icelandic private equity fund AF3 slhf. - managed by Alfa Framtak ehf. -and two family investment companies, CCap from the Netherlands and Snaebol ehf. from Iceland.
The interest in the deal has been such that Samherji has decided to raise additional capital in order to accelerate the construction of the next phase of the project. Several national and international investors are actively involved in this extension, which is expected to close before the summer.
"I am humbled by the interest shown in the Salmon Garden by various reputable investors," Jón Kjartan Jónsson, Managing Director of Samherji Fish Farming, appraised. "This is a project on a massive scale that will positively impact the local community in Reykjanes. We are proud to create new jobs alongside increased value creation through environmentally friendly production of high-quality protein," he added.
The excitement for the project extends to the rest of the investors. "Land‑based aquaculture is rapidly emerging as an important industry for Iceland's economy. By harnessing abundant renewable energy and building on decades of expertise in fisheries, our industry is well‑positioned for sustainable growth. At Alfa Framtak, we're proud to help establish this vital new sector," said Gunnar Páll Tryggvason, CEO of Alfa Framtak.
In the same vein, Íslandsbanki's CEO, Jón Gudni Ómarsson, expressed his satisfaction with what Samherji's Salmon Garden could mean for the Icelandic economy. "Íslandsbanki is honoured to be entrusted to lead the financing of the Salmon Garden project," he stated.
"With the syndicated loan and the capital increase from trusted partners, a solid foundation has been laid for this ambitious project. It aligns well with the bank's strategy of supporting long-term value creation in the Icelandic economy," Ómarsson added.
For their part, Jan van der Plas and Anton van der Plas, founding partners of the Dutch family investment firm CCap, emphasized their confidence in Samherji, with which they have previously collaborated on several projects.
"We have worked with Samherji's management for many years in global seafood operations. The Salmon Garden is an exciting opportunity to expand that collaboration, and we are thrilled to be part of this major development," they said.
The Salmon Garden builds on Samherji Fish Farming's experience in Öxarfjördur, a remote fjord in northeast Iceland, where the company produces some 1,200 tons of salmon a year, which, in the opinion of CEO Thorsteinn Már Baldvinsson, means they are now well prepared for a considerably larger operation.
"Since 2023, we have invested EUR 30 million in expanding the site with several pilots, testing new technologies that will be applied in the Salmon Garden. The operational performance has been impressive, validating our expectations for the new site," he explained.
The new project, meanwhile, has been under development since 2020 and was designed with the goal of reducing operational complexity and using only proven and reliable technologies. Resource efficiency is also a key pillar at the Salmon Garden, with low energy consumption planned and the use of seawater and hot water exchanged with the sea.
The state-of-the-art large-scale salmon farm will include a freshwater RAS hatchery, an on-growing section with three on-growing stages, and a harvesting facility. In the video below you can see the path the fish will take from their smolt phase until they are ready for harvest.
Site preparation work began in October 2024. As said, the facility is located in Reykjanes, specifically in HS Orka’s Resource Park, with access to 100% renewable energy from the adjacent geothermal plant.
Construction will be developed in three phases, producing approximately 10,000 tons per year of whole gutted salmon (HOG) after Phase 1, and reaching a total capacity of 30,000 tons per year once in full operation. Production will also generate by-products to create added value within the Resource Park.
As said above, once completed, the project - which will be strongly supported by Samherji Fish Farming's existing organization, which already employs approximately 120 people - will directly create 100 new jobs, primarily in knowledge-based roles, plus a similar number of indirect jobs in associated services and industries.
"We expect land-based fish farming to bring significant value creation to the Icelandic economy, just as the fisheries industry has done for decades," CEO Thorsteinn Már Baldvinsson said. Samherji's announcement comes just after sea-based salmon farming is back in the spotlight in Iceland following members of the Progressive Party called on the Icelandic Parliament to limit ownership of aquaculture companies by foreign entities to 25%.
