HB Grandi to buy Ögurvík

HB Grandi hf has agreed to buy the entire shareholding in fishing company Ögurvík ehf from Brim hf. The purchase price is around ISK12.30 billion (€95 million) and a correction is expected to be applied to this once the results of the company’s financial performance to 31st August 2018 is available, reports www.megafishnet.com with reference to the company.

The purchase agreement is subject to approval by the board of HB Grandi and the shareholders meeting of the company. Furthermore the purchase is also subject to the approval of the Icelandic Competition Authority on the merger that such an acquisition leads to. The purchase is funded from cash reserves and loans. The shares will be handed over on payment. In addition, HB Grandi board has made clear the intention to explore the possibility of the sale of the trawler currently under construction in Spain.

Fishing company Ögurvík ehf is based in Reykjavík and operates 2157gt factory trawler Vigri RE-71, which was built in Norway in 1992. Vigri’s quotas for the quota year that commenced on the 1st of September 2018 are for 7680 tonnes of demersal species and 1663 tonnes of mackerel, making Vigri one of the largest quota holders in the Icelandic fleet. Vigri has always operated from Reykjavík.Ögurvík has run its activities from Reykjavík for more than fifty years. Vigri carries 26 crewmembers in each trip and there are 52 seamen on its payroll.These changes can be expected to bring with them certain synergies and to alter the operational profile of both companies in the coming years.The board of HB Grandi has been called for a meeting on Thursday this week to discuss the implications of this agreement.