Merged wellboat group makes another acquisition
Consolidation in the aquaculture support vessel sector has continued with the acquisition of FSV Group by AquaShip/Intership, which itself was created through a merger last December.
FSV is a leading player in premium service and process vessels supporting the fish farming industry. The company operates 23 vessels, has five under construction, and employs 280 people. It operates vessels in Norway, Eastern Canada, Scotland, and the Faroe Islands, and also offers a range of related services including remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and delousing treatments.
The latest deal was driven by American Industrial Partners (“AIP”) which owns a controlling interest in AquaShip AS / Intership AS. Together, the merged businesses will form the world’s second-largest maritime service provider for the aquaculture sector.
Prior to the acquisition FSV Group was owned by three entities – Lapas AS (33.5%), Holta Invest AS (33.3%), Pexmar AS (17.4%) – with other shareholders making up just under 16%.
Arctic Securities acted as financial advisers to the sellers, and DNB Markets acted as financial advisor to AIP in connection with the transaction.
The combined group will operate a fleet of 60 vessels, with eight additional vessels currently being built. More than 1,000 employees will work across Norway, Chile, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and the Faroe Islands.
In a joint statement the companies said: “The merger brings together three companies with market-leading expertise, unique resources, and advanced technological solutions for the aquaculture industry.”
The group will maintain its main bases in Hareid, Molde, and Kristiansund, located in Norway’s Møre og Romsdal region.
Ole Peter Brandal, CEO of AquaShip/Intership, said: “We are an excellent match as our companies share a similar mindset and are built around a culture of innovation, creativity, and solving real-world challenges and opportunities for the industry. At the same time, we each specialise in different segments of the service industry and global markets. Now combined, we are able to deliver even more vessel types and services while maintaining the same high quality.”
Arild Aasmyr, CEO of FSV, commented: “We are positioning ourselves for growth across the full spectrum of innovative technology and know-how across each of the critical services that the aquaculture industry increasingly demands worldwide. With global innovation hubs continuing to develop solutions to improve aquaculture vessel operations and resulting farmer production volumes and yields, but now with one of the industry’s largest network of vessel types and geographies to collaborate across, we will keep striving to anticipate and exceed customer expectations. This combination moves us still farther ahead of the curve.”
Alex Schukin, a partner at AIP, said: “Over the past year, the team at Aquaship and Intership have worked closely to deliver exceptional service for our customers. Now, we look forward to collaborating with the FSV team to create a highly complementary combination that will enable us to further support our customers as a key infrastructure partner in all manners of their aquaculture operations. This is an exceptional global platform in a rapidly growing and evolving industry.”
Ole Peter Brandal will continue as CEO of the group, while Arild Aasmyr will remain CEO of FSV. They are clear that the merger is not about reducing headcount, and have stressed that the three companies are actively seeking more employees, both onshore and at sea.
Per Olav Myrstad, Chairman of FSV and co-founder of the company alongside Endre Brekstad in 2011, said: “We have grown to a size where taking the next step requires even greater resources, capacity, and expertise. After thorough evaluation of different options, we believe this is the optimal way to offer our customers an even broader and better range of services while ensuring our employees have exciting career opportunities and room for growth.”
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