INAQ acted as technical and biological advisors for the buyer, EMK Capital, in the due diligence process for the acquisition of a majority stake in Arctic Seafarm AS.
Arctic Seafarm is a landbased operation planning to produce up to 15,000 tons of Atlantic salmon per year of up to 5 kg, once fully developed, in Nesna in Northern Norway. The plans are based on hybrid flow-through technology with partial recirculation, a technology that has shown promising results so far for grow-out production in Norway. Arctic Seafarm has a strategic partnership with Kvarøy Fiskeoppdrett AS giving access to valuable experience from traditional sea-based aquaculture practices as well as access to smolt and off-take agreements through the existing Kvarøy sales operations. Kvarøy Fiskeoppdrett is renowned in the industry for having a high level of focus on sustainable aquaculture operations throughout the value chain, as demanded by key US customers. Arctic Seafarm plans to operate and produce salmon with similar stringent sustainability standards, thereby promising to become a beacon for the industry as a whole.
EMK Capital is a growth-focused private equity investor, with an exceptional track record of investing in European and international mid-market businesses. EMK invests in opportunities where there is unrecognised and/ or hard to realise value, identified through extensive work on sub sector theses, and where EMK can partner with outstanding management teams in executing transformative change. EMK operates from Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan, Mumbai, Munich, New York, Paris, and Singapore.
INAQ contributed with an in-depth technical and biological due diligence of the planned facility, looking into key aspects such as organisational development, technical solutions, operations and system implementation, as well as biosecurity practices, fish welfare dimensions and key business plan assessments.
INAQ’s team was led by Onno Musch and included expertise within the fields of technical and RAS, Bjørn Rydtun, biology and fish welfare, Nina Santi, business case and finance, Roger Oddebug.