On Wednesday, the equipment supplier, AKVA announced that the company had finalised the contract for the full grow-out RAS project from the Norwegian company AquaCon.
This follows on from and updates the preliminary announcement made in June, that AKVA had entered into a contract for the construction of a land-based fish farm for AquaCon in Maryland, on the US East Coast.
In the final signed contract, the agreement has been increased from US$130 million to US$150 million, and the farming volume has been increased from 15,000 tonnes to 16,000 tonnes of salmon in the first phase of the facility.
According to the statement accompanying the announcement, AKVA and Israel Corp. will jointly participate in a US$5 million convertible loan, and have the option to invest additional US$15 million, each under certain conditions.
Israel Corp., a listed Israeli investment company that owns and invests in high quality companies with established managements and go-to markets, will take a 15 per cent stake in AKVA group, and partner with AKVA in attracting investments for land-based projects based on AKVA solutions and technology. Egersund Group AS will still hold the majority ownership in AKVA.
Knut Nesse, CEO AKVA said: “We are very pleased to welcome Israel Corp. as a long-term, strategic shareholder in AKVA. We believe that Israel Corp.’s global business experience and technology background will contribute to our goal to build a world-leading offering of technical & digital solutions within sea and land-based aquaculture. “This transaction will enable AKVA to accelerate the execution of our current strategy, to significantly step up our innovation agenda, and to transform our land-based strategy”.
Yoav Doppelt, CEO Israel Corp. followed on, “We look forward to working with AKVA to accelerate growth in sustainable food production and further develop AKVA’s technological leadership within the aquaculture industry. Our discussions with AKVA convinced us that AKVA is a leading global player in the aquaculture industry, and best positioned to capture the global land-based opportunity”.
