By Karen Peattie
SALMON farmer Scottish Sea Farms has entered a share purchase agreement to acquire Grieg Seafood Hjaltland UK, which has operations on Shetland and the Isle of Skye, from Grieg Seafood ASA in a deal worth £164 million.
The acquisition is a strategic move by Norwegian-owned Scottish Sea Farms to “to deliver optimal biological performance and help meet rising demand for premium quality, Scottish-grown salmon”.
Grieg Seafood Hjaltland UK currently operates 21 marine farms, a freshwater hatchery and a processing facility, harvesting about 16,000 tonnes of Atlantic salmon in 2020.
Scottish Sea Farms, which is co-owned by Lerøy Seafood Group and SalMar ASA, said the Grieg Seafood Hjaltland business complements the geography and nature of its own operations which are located across mainland Scotland, Shetland and Orkney. Last year, the business produced about 24,000 tonnes of Atlantic salmon.