Helge Gåsø discovers everyone in the fight for the NRS. He could hardly have asked for a better result

It was the most dramatic power struggle since Mowi’s attempt to seize Cermaq in the spring of 2013. One man remains the clear winner.

Dust settled. Ring fox Helge Gåsø and NTS outnumbered Gustav Witzøe and SalMar in the battle for Norway’s Royal Salmon (NRS). After settling the final count, it turned out that NTS, which is 39 percent owned by Gåsø, had an interest in 68.7 percent of the shares in NRS.

Gåsø could not have asked for a better result.

full control
He just won a two-thirds majority, which means he’s de facto in complete control of the upcoming general meetings of the NRS. He achieved this control without retaliation. NRS is actually a subsidiary of NTS. Gåsø is now free to merge the two companies’ activities.

Everything went according to plan.

That wasn’t the case at all on Thursday morning though – just hours before NTS’s 240 kr buyout bid expired.

At the time, the NRS share price was between 275 and 276 NOK. Above SalMar’s advertised bid level of 270 NOK. In other words, there was an expectation in the market that there would be a higher bid.

And therefore Group leaders Høstlund, Loe and Hatlebrekke, in surprisingly good timing, sold NRS shares for NOK 101.7 million. The selling price was 275 NOK.

ban
An hour later it became known that The NTS had sent a letter to the NRS Board of Directors requesting an extraordinary general meeting and NRS. The central point of the letter was the revocation of the Board’s authorization of the capital increase approved at the annual general meeting on May 27. During the annual general meeting, the NRS obtained a standard issuance solution to be able to print ten percent of the new stock.

That’s exactly The case resolution was pivotal in SalMar’s plan to take over the competitor NRS. At this time, the NTS was 40.6 percent of the NRS. Now SalMar’s prospects for success are waning.

It was an important chess move from Gåsø.

afraid
At the same moment, fear spread in the financial market. Fear of potentially blocking SalMar’s show. Thus the panic selling began. The stock price fell vertically.

When the NTS, with a few hour left of stock exchange trading and a period of accepting an offer of 240 kroner, Announce that the company has received enough acceptance to pass 50 percent ownership, and by rescinding SalMar’s condition to display, game over.

Among those who accepted the offer of 240 crowns, to the astonishment of many, were Egil Kristoffersen & Sønner and Norway Fresh, the main owners who together hold a 20.8 percent stake in NRS. The official explanation is that SalMar’s connection to the terms of the bid prevented frøya from winning the match.

Read also: Today she sold NRS shares for 1.1 billion, but she could have gotten more if she had sold to SalMar

synergy
The price drop continued on Friday.

The speculators, who had bet on Salmar’s victory, threw the cards. Sales pressure pushed the price of the NRS below 200 kroner.

Over the weekend, the waves seem to have calmed down. Once again, SalMar lost the battle for possession. Helge Gåsø has greatly strengthened his power base in the Norwegian aquaculture industry.

Now work is still in progress to merge the aquaculture companies NTS and NRS – and to achieve synergies between them.