Salmon Evolution was able to raise money before the market cooled.
During 2020, and further into the first quarter of 2021, Salmon Evolution secured both equity and debt financing for the company’s facilities at Indre Harøy, Møre og Romsdal, Western Norway.
In March 2021, the company issued 83.3 million shares at a subscription price of NOK 6 per share, and raising gross proceeds of NOK 500 million (EUR 50 million).
In mid-April, the company signed a committed term sheet for a EUR 62.5 million bank debt financing package with Nordea, Sparebanken Vest and GIEK. It secured a fully funded platform for both Phase 1 in Indre Harøy and the company’s equity investment in South Korean K Smart.
“We are very grateful for the support from Nordea, Sparebanken Vest and GIEK and see this as yet another proof of Salmon Evolution’s technology approach and overall business model,” said CEO Håkon André Berg in a stock exchange announcement.
Salmon Evolution is now under one year away from releasing the first smolt into the fish tanks and just over 1.5 years away from first harvest. Preparations for production-start are well underway and over the coming quarters the company will devote significant resources in building internal systems and infrastructure, securing that all operating procedures are in place in due time before production start.
Following a volatile 2020, salmon prices has seen a remarkable recovery over the last months and are currently back at historically high levels. Salmon Evolution sees the strong price development as a demonstration of the underlying strength of the salmon market.
“Sentiment in the capital market has eased somewhat during the recent months. With a broad range of land-based salmon farming projects entering capital intensive phases, there is reason to believe that access to financing might be an issue for many of these projects, limiting growth potential from land-based salmon farming the next couple of years. With funding in place and projects well underway, Salmon Evolution is uniquely positioned to take a global frontrunner position in the future development of land-based salmon farming,” it was stated in the quarterly report.
