Gåsø moves back into salmon with large Måsøval stake

Helge Gåsø, founder and former head of the NTS Group fish farming company,  is back in the salmon business – and in a big way.

His investment company, Frøy Kapital, has purchased thousands of shares in Måsøval, a significant salmon farmer in central Norway. Måsøval also has interests in Iceland.

An announcement on the Oslo Stock Exchange at the weekend said Frøy Kapital has purchased 4,761,904 shares in the business worth around NOK 123 million (£9.25m).

The move means that Gåsø and Frøy Kapital now own more than six million shares in Måsøval. Måsøval shares rose sharply following the announcement.

When Gåsø set up Frøy Kapital in the summer of 2022 after a bitter power struggle with SalMar he hinted then that he might go back into the salmon farming business. SalMar acquired NTS and its subsidiaries in a protracted takeover battle.

Frøy Kapital was launched with a capital of around £500m which can be expected to have grown since then.

Gåsø said at the time his ambition was to create profitable businesses and create jobs along the coast.

Måsøval (pictured) is a family-owned business and a few months ago carried out an extensive reorganisation of its business, which it said was necessary to address its growing tax burden.

It had earlier cancelled a semi-submersible salmon farm project known as Aqua Semi, blaming Norway’s new “salmon tax” tax for the decision.

It is described as an integrated producer of Atlantic salmon with more than 50 years of operational experience. Located in central Norway in the region west of Trondheim, Måsøval has both significant farming operations at sea and inhouse smolt production.

Måsøval exports salmon to a global marketplace through its majority ownership in the processing and distribution company, Pure Norwegian Seafood AS.

Helge Gåsø lost the battle for control of NTS