Marine Harvest Sells all shares in Aquagen to focus breeding activities around the renowned Mowi strain

Marine Harvest has sold the 31.3% stake in Aquagen to Aquagen's majority owner EW Group GmbH for NOK 173 mill. The transaction will trigger an accounting gain of NOK 136 mill in Q4 2012 and a liquidity effect of NOK 161 mill, of which NOK 89 mill in Q4 2012, according to Marine Harvest.

One of the rationalizations for selling the Aquagen-shares is the fact that Marine Harvest has decided to focus its breeding activities around the renowned Mowi strain. Marine Harvest has carried out breeding of Atlantic salmon based on Mowi strain for more than 40 years.

The Mowi strain has demonstrated good survival and low feed conversion ratio. The breeding methods have further led to a higher resistance to several salmon diseases. Marine Harvests efforts in this area of the value chain have been significantly enforced during last years and will be a strong focus area going forward. The company expects applied science to lead to several improvements in breeding methods.

Marine Harvests strategy is to be a leading force within sustainable salmon farming and the company has 89 ongoing research projects.

The share sale will not alter Marine Harvest's cooperation with Aquagen.