Nireus weighs up options at home and abroad
Aquaculture company Nireus is looking into the possibility of hooking up with a partner locally or abroad ahead of possible consolidation in the sector, it said yesterday.
‘Consolidation in the sector would be positive under certain circumstances,’ Nireus, Greece’s largest fish-farming company, said in a bourse filing.
The firm was responding to press reports that it is looking into teaming up with peer Selonda as a way of shielding itself against a possible takeover bid from one of its shareholders, Georgian businessman Kakha Bendukidze.
Bendukidze holds 18 percent of Nireus, 10 percent of Selonda and 30 percent another aquaculture company, Dias. In November, equity fund Linnaeus Capital Partners, which is controlled by Bendukidze, said it believes in the sector’s long-term prospects after being consolidated and restructured.
Shares in Nireus ended flat yesterday at 0.74 euros, bringing its market consolidation to 47.08 million euros, versus a 1.09 percent rise in the broader market.
