Grieg Seafood has been seeking a partner for its Canadian operations. But the entire company could be up for sale suggests investment bank.
In November, salmon farmer Grieg Seafood revealed that the company is seeking long-term partners to help develop its business in Canada.
This move has fueled speculation that the entire company might be up for sale.
This has now intensified with analysts at Arctic Securities suggesting suitors may need to pay NOK 11 billion ($1 billion).
Analyst Christian Nordby, who joined Arctic Securities in January this year. is among those predicting a potential acquisition.
Nordby believes Grieg Seafood is worth NOK 59 per share as an independent entity but estimates its value could rise to NOK 100 per share in an acquisition scenario, he told Norwegian newspaper Finansavisen.
He has assigned a 50 percent probability to this outcome, setting a price target of NOK 80 and a buy recommendation.
Nordby, previously spent six and half years at Kepler Chevreaux, suggests potential buyers could include Mowi or Cermaq, while SalMar might be interested in Grieg’s operations in Finnmark.
He argues that Mowi could extract more value from Grieg’s licenses due to its superior operational capabilities.
“Mowi is generally better at operating than Grieg is, and in that sense Mowi should get more out of the licenses than Grieg has,” says Nordby told Finansavisen.
The Grieg family controls over 50 percent of Grieg Seafood’s shares, giving them the decisive power over any potential sale.
