ECONOMY

Nireus says it has no plan to further up its stake in Norway’s Marine Farms

Greek fish farmer Nireus raised its stake in Norwegian fish producer Marine Farms to 29.88 percent from 17.9 percent and said it does not want to increase it further. Nireus, Greece’s largest fish-farming group, has been expanding production internationally through acquisitions and direct investment in Spain and Turkey. The stake in Marine Farms is part of its goal to internationalize output. «Our strategic aim is to have major participation in decision-making and management. We are not financial investors (in Marine Farms),» Nireus Chairman Aristidis Belles told reporters. «We will seek to have members on the board of directors. We are not interested in raising our holding further. We have known Marine Farms since its inception 20 years ago. Our move was not aggressive,» Belles said. Marine Farms said that Nireus bought an additional 4.38 million shares of its shares yesterday, bringing its total holding to 10,942,147 shares. Nireus executives said the total cost for the stake was about 35 million euros, meaning an average price of 25 Norwegian crowns per share. Belles said he expects both firms to benefit from significant synergies. The acquisition helps Nireus enrich its product range with new fish varieties – salmon, cod and cobia – as well as knowhow developed by Marine Farms. As a group, Nireus has a fish farming capacity of 52,500 tonnes annually and production of 236 million fry. (Reuters)

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