SSC suitors ‘could come from outside industry’
BIDS for the Scottish Salmon Company could come from outside the industry, a leading Norwegian seafood analyst has suggested.
Carl-Emil Kjølås Johannessen, who works for the Nordic financial services company Pareto, said there could be a number of potential buyers for the business, but ruled out Mowi as he believes it already has too much market share.
He told the Norwegian website ilaks.no there are likely to be a wide range of bidders, including from both outside and inside the UK and from financial players who currently have no connection with aquaculture.
Edinburgh based Scottish Salmon Company, which harvests around 30,000 tonnes annually, announced last month that it was looking to sell all or part of the business. It said in a statement :‘Among the options being considered within the framework of the review are several formal, non-binding expressions of interest to purchase part or all of the company that have been received by the company via its UK financial advisor Daiwa Corporate Advisory Limited.’
Many of the major salmon players have been mentioned in various media channels as possible bidders.
Listed on the Olso Stock Exchange seafood index, SSC has a market capitalisation of NOK 4.82 billion or £447 million.The company reported a 33 per cent jump in earnings in the first quarter of the year, with revenue up 23 per cent, totalling £53.5 million. Exports accounted for 65 per cent of sales.