Pan Fish
Encyclopedia
Marine Harvest ASA Pan Fish prior to February 6, 2007, is a Norwegian
seafood
company with operations in a number of countries around the world. The company's primary interest is the production, processing and sale of farmed salmon
, the operations of which are focused on Norway, Scotland
, Canada
, the Faroe Islands
, Ireland
and Chile
. The group has a share of between 25 and 30% of the global salmon
and trout
market, making it the world's largest company in the sector. Marine Harvest also owns a 'value added processing' unit, which prepares and distributes a range of seafood products, and a number of smaller divisions.
The company assumed its current form as a result of massive expansion in 2006, when Pan Fish ASA conducted an effective three-way merger
with Marine Harvest N.V.
and Fjord Seafood. The group is headquartered in Oslo
and is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange
where it is a constituent of the benchmark OBX Index
.
The first company to use the name Marine Harvest was founded in Lochailort
, Scotland by Unilever
in 1965 at the outset of the Atlantic salmon
farming industry. Unilever had been developing farming methods at a research facility there. The company began operations in Chile in 1975. In 1992, Unilever sold the business to American
firm Marifarms, and two years later ownership of the company passed to Booker plc
when it was merged with Booker's aquaculture subsidiary, McConnell Salmon. After deciding to divest
Marine Harvest McConnell so as to concentrate on its core cash and carry
business in 1998, Booker eventually succeeded in finding a buyer in July 1999. The Dutch
-based nutrition
firm Nutreco
acquired the unit for GB£
32.7 million, adding it to its fish food
and salmon farming unit. Nutreco's initial attempt to further expand into the fish farming sector by acquiring the seafood arm of Norsk Hydro
was blocked on the recommendation of the United Kingdom
Competition Commission
in late 2000, but the deal was approved in March 2001 after Nutreco agreed not to acquire Hydro Seafood's Scottish assets.
Nutreco retained the name Marine Harvest for the unit's fish farming operations, and established interests in the emerging farmed cod
, halibut
, yellowtail and barramundi
markets. In May 2005, Nutreco merged its fish-farming operations with the salmon, trout, halibut, tilapia
, cod, sturgeon
and caviar
businesses of Stolt-Nielsen
, creating a new stand-alone company, again named Marine Harvest. Nutreco held a 75% stake in the joint venture
, with Stolt taking the remainder.
was founded in 1992 with a strategy to acquire many fish farms domestically and abroad. By 1997 the firm had made numerous acquisitions and opted to list on the Oslo Stock Exchange as Pan Fish ASA. However, the company had borrowed heavily to finance its rapid growth—by the end of 2001, debt
s had reached over NOK
4.7 billion. When the market price of salmon collapsed in 2001, Pan Fish encountered extreme financial difficulties, posting a heavy loss in 2002, and having to sell off assets in order to repay creditors. A major refinancing
operation implemented in late 2002 coincided with the dismissal of the entire board of directors
, including founder and CEO
Arne Nore
. The company slowly recovered over the following years, returning to profitability in 2005.
. Expansion over the following four years was aggressive—by September 2000, when Fjord Seafood (as it was now called) listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange, the company's portfolio comprised 60 ongrowing concessions
, of which 50 were wholly owned, as well as a number of smolt and broodstock
farms, slaughterhouse
s and processing factories. Fjord continued to conduct mergers and acquisitions - the purchase of Belgian
fish-processing company Pieters N.V. in November 2000 was swiftly followed by the addition of ContiSea, the seafood joint-venture of ContiGroup
and Seaboard Corporation
.
As with Pan Fish, poor market conditions saw Fjord's share
price worsen dramatically in 2001, and with it the ability to pay off its debts. The company's future was only secured thanks to a NOK 700 million bail out
from major shareholder
s that September. Attempts to grow the company through merger and acquisitions were also frustrated—a planned merger with the aquaculture businesses of Domstein
(then the biggest shareholder of Fjord) and state-controlled Cermaq
was aborted in June 2002 after opposition from parties including ContiGroup and Seaboard, who controlled over 20% of shares between them. Nevertheless, Fjord stabilised its financial position through restructuring
and cost-cutting measures.
in the aquaculture sector were sparked by the activity of shipping
magnate
John Fredriksen
, Norway's richest man before abandoning his citizenship of the country in 2006. Fredriksen's first major move into the industry came in the second quarter of 2005, when Domstein's 24% stake in Fjord Seafood was sold to his investment
vehicle Geveran Trading. Around the same time, Pan Fish announced that two companies indirectly controlled by Fredriksen had acquired a combined 48% of the company's outstanding shares. In October of that year, with salmon prices high, Fjord submitted an offer for a majority stake in Cermaq to the Norwegian Government, which was preparing it for a public listing. However, as with the first merger attempt in 2002, Fjord failed in its bid—this time the offer was rejected by the Government.
Fredriksen's efforts to effect change finally bore fruit in March 2006, as Geveran Trading succeeded in purchasing Marine Harvest from its joint owners for €881 million, before immediately turning ownership over to Pan Fish. Geveran also sold its stake in Fjord Seafood to Pan Fish at the same time. With its remaining shares purchased by Pan Fish, Fjord Seafood de-listed from the Oslo Stock Exchange on 6 July 2006. With regulatory hurdles in the United Kingdom and France
cleared, the Marine Harvest group was brought under the control of Pan Fish by the end of 2006. To allow the merger to go ahead, the sale of the former Pan Fish Scotland division was agreed with the regulatory authorities. After an initial deal to sell the unit to Norskott Havbruk, owners of rival company Scottish Sea Farms, was called off in July 2007, Pan Fish Scotland was spun off
into a separate publicly traded entity, Lighthouse Caledonia, that November.
Geveran Trading held a 28% stake in the company upon completion of the merger, a shareholding which has since increased to almost 30% as of March 2009.
. Atle Eide
, CEO of Pan Fish from 2003, continued in his position, but resigned in September 2007 for personal reasons. Eide was replaced on an interim basis by Leif Frode Onarheim
, before the CEO position was filled permanently by former GE Healthcare
executive Åse Aulie Michelet
in March 2008. Michelet was unexpectedly removed from her position in March 2010 and was replaced by former Lerøy Seafood
CEO Alf-Helge Aarskog.
Marine Harvest produces Atlantic salmon
, halibut
and white fish
. The company has an integrated value chain, with the company making its own broodstock
in freshwater, followed by growth and maturing in seawater, harvesting, manufacturing in processing plants and distribution. Production in concentrated in Norway, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, the Faroe Islands and in Chile, with sales globally.
Brand names used are Delifish (smoked fish from Chile), Ducktrap (smoked, in the United States), Clare Island Organic Salmon (from Ireland), Donegal Silver Salmon (from Ireland), Kendall Brook (salmon), Kritsen (smoked, in France), La Couronne (smoked, in Belgium), Pieters (distribution), Sterling White Halibut (from Norway), Xalar (salmon oil from Norway).
and Askøy
), two hatcheries (in Øygarden
and Rørvik
) and four processing plants in (Eggesbønes
, Herøy and Ryfisk and Ulvan
). Production is centred around atlantic salmon
, but also includes cod
and white halibut
.
In Scotland, Marine Harvest operates 25 sea farms, plus five hatcheries (in Kilmarie
, Lochailort
, Kinlochmoidart, Finfish and Inchmore
), four freshwater loch sites, a harvest station in Mallaig
and a processing plant in Fort William
. Head office is in Edinburgh
and all produce is atlantic salmon.
In Chile, Marine Harvest operates 53 sea water and 22 fresh water sites, in addition to four processing plants (in Calbuco
, Chiloé
, Puerto Montt
and Santiago
). Regional head office is located in Puerto Montt
, and output is salmon, trout
, coho and salar
.
In British Columbia
, Canada, Marine Harvest operates two processing plants, seven hatcheries and 37 sea water sites near five towns in British Columbia
: Campbell River
, Port McNeill, Port Hardy, Quatsino and Klemtu. Produce is atlantic salmon.
In the Faroe Islands
, Marine Harvest operates fresh water sites in Hellur
, and sea water sites in Oyndarfjørður
, Haldarsvík
, Hósvík
and Kollafjørður
. Produce is Atlantic salmon.
In Ireland, Marine Harvest operates one broodstock plant, two hatcheries, three fresh water sites, twelve sea water sites, three processing plants, all but four sea water sites in County Donegal
, the latter being in County Mayo
. Output is atlantic salmon.
, Challans
, Lorient
, Chateaugiron
, Dunkerque and Landivisiau
. These support an extensive sales force throughout the country. In Belgium, processing and distribution plants are located in Bruges
and Ostend
. In the Netherlands, there is one processing plant in Lemmer
. Additional European sales offices are located in Bologna
, Italy, and Madrid
, Spain.
In the United States, one processing plant is located in Maine
, while sales offices are in Miami. In Asia, sales offices are located in Singapore
; Beijing
, China; Tokyo
, Japan; Taipei
, Taiwan, and Busan
, South Korea.
Murray's Cauld on the Ettrick Water in Selkirk, Scotland, through what has been claimed to be inaction. The company sold its nearby fish farm to a local businessman for £1 in July 2008, who has since been given permission to commence repair work on the weir.
Marine Harvest's operations have been severely affected in the south of Chile
, where millions of fish have died by the disease infectious salmon anemia
. The rapid propagation of the virus has motivated the enterprise to sell some of its facilities, firing more than a thousand employees, with the aim of translating its installations further south to the Aisén Region. Parasitic
, viral and fungal infections are all disseminated when the fish are stressed and the centres are too close together, and a spokesman for Marine Harvest recognized that his company was using too many antibiotic
s in Chile and that fish pens were too close, contributing to the dissemination of the ISA virus. Norwegian scientist Are Nylund has suggested that Marine Harvest introduced the ISA virus to the region by importing infected eggs from Norway.
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
seafood
Seafood
Seafood is any form of marine life regarded as food by humans. Seafoods include fish, molluscs , crustaceans , echinoderms . Edible sea plants, such as some seaweeds and microalgae, are also seafood, and are widely eaten around the world, especially in Asia...
company with operations in a number of countries around the world. The company's primary interest is the production, processing and sale of farmed salmon
Aquaculture of salmon
Salmon, along with carp, are the two most important fish groups in aquaculture. In 2007, the aquaculture of salmon and salmon trout was worth US$10.7 billion. The most commonly farmed salmon is the Atlantic salmon. Other commonly farmed fish groups include tilapia, catfish, sea bass, bream and...
, the operations of which are focused on Norway, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the Faroe Islands
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
. The group has a share of between 25 and 30% of the global salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
and trout
Trout
Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...
market, making it the world's largest company in the sector. Marine Harvest also owns a 'value added processing' unit, which prepares and distributes a range of seafood products, and a number of smaller divisions.
The company assumed its current form as a result of massive expansion in 2006, when Pan Fish ASA conducted an effective three-way merger
Mergers and acquisitions
Mergers and acquisitions refers to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling, dividing and combining of different companies and similar entities that can help an enterprise grow rapidly in its sector or location of origin, or a new field or...
with Marine Harvest N.V.
Naamloze Vennootschap
is the Dutch term for a public limited liability company. The company is owned by shareholders, and the company's shares are not registered to certain owners, so that they may be traded on the public stock market....
and Fjord Seafood. The group is headquartered in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
and is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange
Oslo Stock Exchange
The Oslo Stock Exchange serves as the main market for trading in the shares of Norwegian companies. It opens at 9:00am and closes 5:30pm local time...
where it is a constituent of the benchmark OBX Index
OBX Index
The OBX Index is a stock market index which lists the 25 most liquid companies on the main index of the Oslo Stock Exchange in Norway. All stocks on the OBX list can be traded with options and futures...
.
Marine Harvest
Lochailort
Lochailort is a hamlet in Scotland that lies at the head of Loch Ailort, a sea loch, on the junction of the Road to the Isles between Fort William and Mallaig with the A861 loop towards Salen and Strontian. It is served by Lochailort railway station on the West Highland Line...
, Scotland by Unilever
Unilever
Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....
in 1965 at the outset of the Atlantic salmon
Atlantic salmon
The Atlantic salmon is a species of fish in the family Salmonidae, which is found in the northern Atlantic Ocean and in rivers that flow into the north Atlantic and the north Pacific....
farming industry. Unilever had been developing farming methods at a research facility there. The company began operations in Chile in 1975. In 1992, Unilever sold the business to American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
firm Marifarms, and two years later ownership of the company passed to Booker plc
Booker Cash & Carry plc
Booker Group plc is the United Kingdom's largest food wholesale operator, offering branded and private-label goods to over 400,000 customers including independent convenience stores, grocers, pubs and restaurants...
when it was merged with Booker's aquaculture subsidiary, McConnell Salmon. After deciding to divest
Divestment
In finance and economics, divestment or divestiture is the reduction of some kind of asset for either financial or ethical objectives or sale of an existing business by a firm...
Marine Harvest McConnell so as to concentrate on its core cash and carry
Cash and carry (wholesale)
Cash and carry wholesale represents a type of operation within the wholesale sector. Its main features are summarized best by the following definitions:...
business in 1998, Booker eventually succeeded in finding a buyer in July 1999. The Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
-based nutrition
Nutrition
Nutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....
firm Nutreco
Nutreco
Nutreco N.V. is a Dutch producer of animal nutrition, fish feed and processed meat products. It has about 100 production facilities in more than 30 countries, and eight research centers. The company was founded in 1994 after a Cinven-backed management buyout of the feed and nutrition division of BP...
acquired the unit for GB£
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
32.7 million, adding it to its fish food
Fish food
Aquarium fish feed is plant or animal material intended for consumption by pet fish kept in aquariums or ponds. Fish foods normally contain macro nutrients, trace elements and vitamins necessary to keep captive fish in good health. Approximately 80% of fishkeeping hobbyists feed their fish...
and salmon farming unit. Nutreco's initial attempt to further expand into the fish farming sector by acquiring the seafood arm of Norsk Hydro
Norsk Hydro
Norsk Hydro ASA is a Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. Hydro is the fourth largest integrated aluminium company worldwide. It has operations in some 40 countries around the world and is active on all continents. The Norwegian state holds a 43.8 percent...
was blocked on the recommendation of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Competition Commission
Competition Commission
The Competition Commission is a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under competition law in the United Kingdom...
in late 2000, but the deal was approved in March 2001 after Nutreco agreed not to acquire Hydro Seafood's Scottish assets.
Nutreco retained the name Marine Harvest for the unit's fish farming operations, and established interests in the emerging farmed cod
Cod
Cod is the common name for genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae, and is also used in the common name for various other fishes. Cod is a popular food with a mild flavor, low fat content and a dense, flaky white flesh. Cod livers are processed to make cod liver oil, an important source of...
, halibut
Halibut
Halibut is a flatfish, genus Hippoglossus, from the family of the right-eye flounders . Other flatfish are also called halibut. The name is derived from haly and butt , for its popularity on Catholic holy days...
, yellowtail and barramundi
Barramundi
The Barramundi , also known as Asian Seabass, is a species of catadromous fish in family Latidae of order Perciformes. The native species is widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific region from the Persian Gulf, through Southeast Asia to Papua New Guinea and Northern Australia. Known in Thai...
markets. In May 2005, Nutreco merged its fish-farming operations with the salmon, trout, halibut, tilapia
Tilapia
Tilapia , is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the tilapiine cichlid tribe. Tilapia inhabit a variety of fresh water habitats, including shallow streams, ponds, rivers and lakes. Historically, they have been of major importance in artisan fishing in Africa and the...
, cod, sturgeon
Sturgeon
Sturgeon is the common name used for some 26 species of fish in the family Acipenseridae, including the genera Acipenser, Huso, Scaphirhynchus and Pseudoscaphirhynchus. The term includes over 20 species commonly referred to as sturgeon and several closely related species that have distinct common...
and caviar
Caviar
Caviar, sometimes called black caviar, is a luxury delicacy, consisting of processed, salted, non-fertilized sturgeon roe. The roe can be "fresh" or pasteurized, the latter having much less culinary and economic value....
businesses of Stolt-Nielsen
Stolt-Nielsen
Stolt-Nielsen Limited is a Norwegian-Bermudean shipping and seafood company. The company has its headquarters formally in London although most of its operations are in Rotterdam, it is listed on Oslo Stock Exchange.-Stolt Tankers:...
, creating a new stand-alone company, again named Marine Harvest. Nutreco held a 75% stake in the joint venture
Joint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
, with Stolt taking the remainder.
Pan Fish
Pan Fish Holding ASAksjeselskap
Aksjeselskap is the Norwegian term for a stock-based company. It is usually abbreviated AS or A/S, especially when used in company names. An AS is always a limited company, i.e. the owners cannot be held liable for any debt beyond the stock capital...
was founded in 1992 with a strategy to acquire many fish farms domestically and abroad. By 1997 the firm had made numerous acquisitions and opted to list on the Oslo Stock Exchange as Pan Fish ASA. However, the company had borrowed heavily to finance its rapid growth—by the end of 2001, debt
Debt
A debt is an obligation owed by one party to a second party, the creditor; usually this refers to assets granted by the creditor to the debtor, but the term can also be used metaphorically to cover moral obligations and other interactions not based on economic value.A debt is created when a...
s had reached over NOK
Norwegian krone
The krone is the currency of Norway and its dependent territories. The plural form is kroner . It is subdivided into 100 øre. The ISO 4217 code is NOK, although the common local abbreviation is kr. The name translates into English as "crown"...
4.7 billion. When the market price of salmon collapsed in 2001, Pan Fish encountered extreme financial difficulties, posting a heavy loss in 2002, and having to sell off assets in order to repay creditors. A major refinancing
Refinancing
Refinancing may refer to the replacement of an existing debt obligation with a debt obligation under different terms. The terms and conditions of refinancing may vary widely by country, province, or state, based on several economic factors such as, inherent risk, projected risk, political...
operation implemented in late 2002 coincided with the dismissal of the entire board of directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
, including founder and CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
Arne Nore
Arne Nore
Arne Kåre Nore is a Norwegian businessperson. He was the key architect behind the creation of Pan Fish, and was chief executive officer until 2003, when he was replaced by Atle Eide.-References:...
. The company slowly recovered over the following years, returning to profitability in 2005.
Fjord Seafood
Fjord Seafood has its origins in Torgnes Invest, a company founded in June 1996 which initially operated a single fish farm in the Norwegian town of BrønnøysundBrønnøysund
is a town and the administrative centre of the municipality of Brønnøy, Norway. It is also a former municipality in Nordland county. The village of Brønnøysund received town status in 2000. The city lies along the coast and is often called "the coastal town in the middle of Norway." Brønnøysund...
. Expansion over the following four years was aggressive—by September 2000, when Fjord Seafood (as it was now called) listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange, the company's portfolio comprised 60 ongrowing concessions
Concession (contract)
A concession is a business operated under a contract or license associated with a degree of exclusivity in business within a certain geographical area. For example, sports arenas or public parks may have concession stands. Many department stores contain numerous concessions operated by other...
, of which 50 were wholly owned, as well as a number of smolt and broodstock
Broodstock
Broodstock, or broodfish, are a group of mature individuals used in aquaculture for breeding purposes. Broodstock can be a population of animals maintained in captivity as a source of replacement for, or enhancement of, seed and fry numbers. These are generally kept in ponds or tanks in which...
farms, slaughterhouse
Slaughterhouse
A slaughterhouse or abattoir is a facility where animals are killed for consumption as food products.Approximately 45-50% of the animal can be turned into edible products...
s and processing factories. Fjord continued to conduct mergers and acquisitions - the purchase of Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
fish-processing company Pieters N.V. in November 2000 was swiftly followed by the addition of ContiSea, the seafood joint-venture of ContiGroup
ContiGroup Companies
Formed in 1813, ContiGroup Companies, Inc was originally founded by Simon Fribourg in Arlon, Belgium, as a grain-trading firm. Formerly known as Continental Grain, ContiGroup has expanded into a multinational corporation with offices and facilities in 10 countries while employing more than 13,500...
and Seaboard Corporation
Seaboard Corporation
Seaboard Corporation is a diversified conglomerate that operates worldwide a number of agriculture and ocean transport businesses. In the United States, the company mainly engages in pork production and processing. Internationally, Seaboard also has operations in cargo shipping, commodity...
.
As with Pan Fish, poor market conditions saw Fjord's share
Stock
The capital stock of a business entity represents the original capital paid into or invested in the business by its founders. It serves as a security for the creditors of a business since it cannot be withdrawn to the detriment of the creditors...
price worsen dramatically in 2001, and with it the ability to pay off its debts. The company's future was only secured thanks to a NOK 700 million bail out
Bail out (finance)
In economics, a bailout is an act of loaning or giving capital to an entity that is in danger of failing, in an attempt to save it from bankruptcy, insolvency, or total liquidation and ruin; or to allow a failing entity to fail gracefully without spreading contagion.-Overview:A bailout could be...
from major shareholder
Shareholder
A shareholder or stockholder is an individual or institution that legally owns one or more shares of stock in a public or private corporation. Shareholders own the stock, but not the corporation itself ....
s that September. Attempts to grow the company through merger and acquisitions were also frustrated—a planned merger with the aquaculture businesses of Domstein
Domstein
Domstein is a Norwegian fishing company based in Måløy and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. The company is controlled by Rolf Domstein.-Operations:...
(then the biggest shareholder of Fjord) and state-controlled Cermaq
Cermaq
Cermaq is a Norwegian fish farm and fish feed company. The company is owned 43.5% by the Government of Norway and is listed on Oslo Stock Exchange. The company has its headquarters in Oslo, Norway...
was aborted in June 2002 after opposition from parties including ContiGroup and Seaboard, who controlled over 20% of shares between them. Nevertheless, Fjord stabilised its financial position through restructuring
Restructuring
Restructuring is the corporate management term for the act of reorganizing the legal, ownership, operational, or other structures of a company for the purpose of making it more profitable, or better organized for its present needs...
and cost-cutting measures.
Merger
Moves toward consolidationConsolidation (business)
Consolidation or amalgamation is the act of merging many things into one. In business, it often refers to the mergers and acquisitions of many smaller companies into much larger ones. In the context of financial accounting, consolidation refers to the aggregation of financial statements of a group...
in the aquaculture sector were sparked by the activity of shipping
Ship transport
Ship transport is watercraft carrying people or goods . Sea transport has been the largest carrier of freight throughout recorded history. Although the importance of sea travel for passengers has decreased due to aviation, it is effective for short trips and pleasure cruises...
magnate
Business magnate
A business magnate, sometimes referred to as a capitalist, czar, mogul, tycoon, baron, oligarch, or industrialist, is an informal term used to refer to an entrepreneur who has reached prominence and derived a notable amount of wealth from a particular industry .-Etymology:The word magnate itself...
John Fredriksen
John Fredriksen
John Fredriksen, is a Norwegian-born Cypriot oil tanker and shipping tycoon, owner of the world's largest oil tanker fleet, and was Norway's richest man until he chose to abandon his Norwegian citizenship and take up a Cypriot passport. Norwegian magazine Kapital listed Fredriksen in 2010 with a...
, Norway's richest man before abandoning his citizenship of the country in 2006. Fredriksen's first major move into the industry came in the second quarter of 2005, when Domstein's 24% stake in Fjord Seafood was sold to his investment
Investment
Investment has different meanings in finance and economics. Finance investment is putting money into something with the expectation of gain, that upon thorough analysis, has a high degree of security for the principal amount, as well as security of return, within an expected period of time...
vehicle Geveran Trading. Around the same time, Pan Fish announced that two companies indirectly controlled by Fredriksen had acquired a combined 48% of the company's outstanding shares. In October of that year, with salmon prices high, Fjord submitted an offer for a majority stake in Cermaq to the Norwegian Government, which was preparing it for a public listing. However, as with the first merger attempt in 2002, Fjord failed in its bid—this time the offer was rejected by the Government.
Fredriksen's efforts to effect change finally bore fruit in March 2006, as Geveran Trading succeeded in purchasing Marine Harvest from its joint owners for €881 million, before immediately turning ownership over to Pan Fish. Geveran also sold its stake in Fjord Seafood to Pan Fish at the same time. With its remaining shares purchased by Pan Fish, Fjord Seafood de-listed from the Oslo Stock Exchange on 6 July 2006. With regulatory hurdles in the United Kingdom and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
cleared, the Marine Harvest group was brought under the control of Pan Fish by the end of 2006. To allow the merger to go ahead, the sale of the former Pan Fish Scotland division was agreed with the regulatory authorities. After an initial deal to sell the unit to Norskott Havbruk, owners of rival company Scottish Sea Farms, was called off in July 2007, Pan Fish Scotland was spun off
Spin out
A spin-out, also known as a spin-off or a starburst, refers to a type of corporate action where a company "splits off" sections of itself as a separate business....
into a separate publicly traded entity, Lighthouse Caledonia, that November.
Geveran Trading held a 28% stake in the company upon completion of the merger, a shareholding which has since increased to almost 30% as of March 2009.
Change in identity
With the creation of a much enlarged company complete, the Pan Fish management announced a complete change in its identity in December 2006. The firm's new brand was chosen to reflect each of its three main constituents: "Marine Harvest" was again revived as the new name for the company, and the Fjord Seafood slogan "excellence in seafood" and a reworked version of the Pan Fish motif were also included in the new logoLogo
A logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition...
. Atle Eide
Atle Eide
Atle Eide is a Norwegian businessperson, and since 2007 partner with HitecVision Private Equity.Eide is a former board member of Fokus Bank, Acta, Cermaq and SalMar. From 2003 to 2007 he was chief executive officer of Marine Harvest.-References:...
, CEO of Pan Fish from 2003, continued in his position, but resigned in September 2007 for personal reasons. Eide was replaced on an interim basis by Leif Frode Onarheim
Leif Frode Onarheim
Leif Frode Onarheim is a Norwegian businessperson and politician for the Conservative Party.-Early life and career:He was born in Vestre Toten as the son of businessperson Frode M. A. Onarheim and housewife Lillemor Høst . He attended primary and secondary school in Hamar, Bekkelaget and Gjøvik...
, before the CEO position was filled permanently by former GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare is a division of GE Technology Infrastructure, which is itself a division of General Electric . It employs more than 46,000 people worldwide and is headquartered in Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom. GE Healthcare is the first GE business segment to be headquartered...
executive Åse Aulie Michelet
Åse Aulie Michelet
Åse Aulie Michelet is a Norwegian businessperson and pharmacist. Since 1 March 2008 she has been Chief Executive Officer of Marine Harvest. She is also a member of the board of Orkla....
in March 2008. Michelet was unexpectedly removed from her position in March 2010 and was replaced by former Lerøy Seafood
Lerøy
Lerøy Seafood Group is a seafood production and distribution company based in Bergen, NorwayThe company started operation in the 19th century when the fisherman Ole Mikkel Lerøen started selling fish and other seafood on the fish market of Bergen. In 1939 the primary subsidiary Hallvar Lærøy AS...
CEO Alf-Helge Aarskog.
Operations
Salmonidae
Salmonidae is a family of ray-finned fish, the only living family currently placed in the order Salmoniformes. It includes salmon, trout, chars, freshwater whitefishes and graylings...
, halibut
Halibut
Halibut is a flatfish, genus Hippoglossus, from the family of the right-eye flounders . Other flatfish are also called halibut. The name is derived from haly and butt , for its popularity on Catholic holy days...
and white fish
Freshwater whitefish
The freshwater whitefish are fish of the subfamily Coregoninae in the salmon family Salmonidae. Along with the freshwater whitefish, the Salmonidae includes the freshwater and anadromous trout and salmon species as well as graylings...
. The company has an integrated value chain, with the company making its own broodstock
Broodstock
Broodstock, or broodfish, are a group of mature individuals used in aquaculture for breeding purposes. Broodstock can be a population of animals maintained in captivity as a source of replacement for, or enhancement of, seed and fry numbers. These are generally kept in ponds or tanks in which...
in freshwater, followed by growth and maturing in seawater, harvesting, manufacturing in processing plants and distribution. Production in concentrated in Norway, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, the Faroe Islands and in Chile, with sales globally.
Brand names used are Delifish (smoked fish from Chile), Ducktrap (smoked, in the United States), Clare Island Organic Salmon (from Ireland), Donegal Silver Salmon (from Ireland), Kendall Brook (salmon), Kritsen (smoked, in France), La Couronne (smoked, in Belgium), Pieters (distribution), Sterling White Halibut (from Norway), Xalar (salmon oil from Norway).
Production locations
In Norway, in addition to the corporate headquarters in Oslo and two sales offices, Marine Harvest operates 100 seawater sites along the coast. These are supplemented with 28 fresh water sites, two broodstock plants (in BjugnBjugn
Bjugn is a municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Fosen region. The village of Botngård is the administrative centre of Bjugn municipality...
and Askøy
Askøy
Askøy is a municipality in the county of Hordaland, Norway. Since the opening of the Askøy Bridge leading to the mainland in Bergen in 1992, the population has increased rapidly. Its population growth is as of 2008 among the highest in Norway...
), two hatcheries (in Øygarden
Øygarden
Øygarden is a municipality in Hordaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Midhordland. The administrative centre is Rong.Øygarden was created as a new municipality on 1 January 1964 after the merger of Hjelme and parts of Herdla....
and Rørvik
Rørvik
Rørvik is a port village in the municipality of Vikna in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. The village also serves as the administrative centre of the municipality. It is on the eastern side of the Vikna archipelago on the island of Inner-Vikna. The village has a population of 2,721. The...
) and four processing plants in (Eggesbønes
Eggesbønes
Eggesbønes is a village that is located in the southern part of the town of Fosnavåg in the municipality of Herøy in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway...
, Herøy and Ryfisk and Ulvan
Ulvan
Ulvan is a village on the island of Ulvøya in the municipality of Hitra in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located on the western side of the island on the Frøyfjorden, about west of Knarrlagsund. Ulvan is home to a large fish processing plant operated by Marine Harvest....
). Production is centred around atlantic salmon
Atlantic salmon
The Atlantic salmon is a species of fish in the family Salmonidae, which is found in the northern Atlantic Ocean and in rivers that flow into the north Atlantic and the north Pacific....
, but also includes cod
Cod
Cod is the common name for genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae, and is also used in the common name for various other fishes. Cod is a popular food with a mild flavor, low fat content and a dense, flaky white flesh. Cod livers are processed to make cod liver oil, an important source of...
and white halibut
Halibut
Halibut is a flatfish, genus Hippoglossus, from the family of the right-eye flounders . Other flatfish are also called halibut. The name is derived from haly and butt , for its popularity on Catholic holy days...
.
Kilmarie
Kilmarie or Kilmaree , is a village in the Isle of Skye, Scotland. Its most notable feature is the village church and graveyard. The graveyard has a significant number of tombstones from highland clans, in particular Clan MacKinnon...
, Lochailort
Lochailort
Lochailort is a hamlet in Scotland that lies at the head of Loch Ailort, a sea loch, on the junction of the Road to the Isles between Fort William and Mallaig with the A861 loop towards Salen and Strontian. It is served by Lochailort railway station on the West Highland Line...
, Kinlochmoidart, Finfish and Inchmore
Inchmore
Inchmore is a small hamlet at the foot of Glen Strathfarrar, in Inverness-shire in the Scottish Highlands of Scotland. It is situated 1 km north west of Struy, and 14 km southwest of Beauly, and in the Highland council area. It is on the north bank of the River Farrar, and is the location of a...
), four freshwater loch sites, a harvest station in Mallaig
Mallaig
Mallaig ; is a port in Lochaber, on the west coast of the Highlands of Scotland. The local railway station, Mallaig, is the terminus of the West Highland railway line , completed in 1901, and the town is linked to Fort William by the A830 road – the "Road to the Isles".The village of Mallaig...
and a processing plant in Fort William
Fort William, Scotland
Fort William is the second largest settlement in the highlands of Scotland and the largest town: only the city of Inverness is larger.Fort William is a major tourist centre with Glen Coe just to the south, Aonach Mòr to the north and Glenfinnan to the west, on the Road to the Isles...
. Head office is in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
and all produce is atlantic salmon.
In Chile, Marine Harvest operates 53 sea water and 22 fresh water sites, in addition to four processing plants (in Calbuco
Calbuco
Calbuco is a city and commune in southern Chile administered by the Municipality of Calbuco. Administratively Calbuco belongs to the Llanquihue Province of Los Lagos Region. The origin of the city was the Spanish Fort Calbuco founded in 1603, and became later an important fish market...
, Chiloé
Chiloé Island
Chiloé Island , also known as Greater Island of Chiloé , is the largest island of the Chiloé Archipelago off the coast of Chile, in the Pacific Ocean...
, Puerto Montt
Puerto Montt
Puerto Montt is a port city and commune in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncaví Sound in the Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region. The commune spans an area of and had a population of 175,938 in 2002. It is located 1,055 km to the south of the capital, Santiago...
and Santiago
Santiago, Chile
Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...
). Regional head office is located in Puerto Montt
Puerto Montt
Puerto Montt is a port city and commune in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncaví Sound in the Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region. The commune spans an area of and had a population of 175,938 in 2002. It is located 1,055 km to the south of the capital, Santiago...
, and output is salmon, trout
Trout
Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...
, coho and salar
Atlantic salmon
The Atlantic salmon is a species of fish in the family Salmonidae, which is found in the northern Atlantic Ocean and in rivers that flow into the north Atlantic and the north Pacific....
.
In British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada, Marine Harvest operates two processing plants, seven hatcheries and 37 sea water sites near five towns in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
: Campbell River
Campbell River, British Columbia
Campbell River is a coastal city in British Columbia on the east coast of Vancouver Island at the south end of Discovery Passage, which lies along the important coastal Inside Passage shipping route...
, Port McNeill, Port Hardy, Quatsino and Klemtu. Produce is atlantic salmon.
In the Faroe Islands
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...
, Marine Harvest operates fresh water sites in Hellur
Hellur
Hellur is a village in the Faroe Islands, on Oyndarfjørður , located on the east-side of Eysturoy. Part of the municipality of Fuglafjørður. Hellur was founded in 1849 by people from Lambi.-External links:...
, and sea water sites in Oyndarfjørður
Oyndarfjørður
Oyndarfjørður is a village on the northeastern coast of the Faroese island of Eysturoy in the Runavíkar municipality. The 2005 population was 180. Its postal code is FO 690. The town's church dates from 1838. It is famous for two rinkusteinar, or rocking stones, located in the sea nearby.The name...
, Haldarsvík
Haldarsvík
Haldarsvik is a small village located on the north-east coast of Streymoyin the Sunda Kommuna municipality. In the center of the village there is a small cataract....
, Hósvík
Hósvík
Hósvík is a village in the Faroe Islands. It has 281 inhabitants and is located on a bay on Streymoy's east-coast.*Population: 281*Postal code : FO 420*Location: *Municipality: Sunda Kommuna...
and Kollafjørður
Kollafjørður
Kollafjørður is a village in the Faroe Islands located on the island of Streymoy at 62°7′6″N, 6°54′20″W with a population of 822. Its postal code is FO 410. It is part of the Tórshavnar municipality.-See also:* List of towns in the Faroe Islands...
. Produce is Atlantic salmon.
In Ireland, Marine Harvest operates one broodstock plant, two hatcheries, three fresh water sites, twelve sea water sites, three processing plants, all but four sea water sites in County Donegal
County Donegal
County Donegal is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Donegal. Donegal County Council is the local authority for the county...
, the latter being in County Mayo
County Mayo
County Mayo is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Mayo, which is now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 130,552...
. Output is atlantic salmon.
Processing and sales
In France, processing and distribution plants are located in Boulogne-sur-MerBoulogne-sur-Mer
-Road:* Metropolitan bus services are operated by the TCRB* Coach services to Calais and Dunkerque* A16 motorway-Rail:* The main railway station is Gare de Boulogne-Ville and located in the south of the city....
, Challans
Challans
Challans is a commune in the Vendée département in the Pays de la Loire région in western France....
, Lorient
Lorient
Lorient, or L'Orient, is a commune and a seaport in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France.-History:At the beginning of the 17th century, merchants who were trading with India had established warehouses in Port-Louis...
, Chateaugiron
Châteaugiron
Châteaugiron is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department of Brittany in north-western France.-Demographics:Inhabitants of Châteaugiron are called in French Castelgironnais.-References:* ;* -External links:* *...
, Dunkerque and Landivisiau
Landivisiau
Landivisiau is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.-International relations:It is twinned with Bideford in the southwest of the United Kingdom.-Population:...
. These support an extensive sales force throughout the country. In Belgium, processing and distribution plants are located in Bruges
Bruges
Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....
and Ostend
Ostend
Ostend is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke , Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the largest on the Belgian coast....
. In the Netherlands, there is one processing plant in Lemmer
Lemmer
Lemmer is a town in the municipality of Lemsterland , in the Netherlands. It has a population of around 10,500 and is one of Friesland's most famous water sport towns.Lemmer also is a common Luxembourgish last name....
. Additional European sales offices are located in Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, Italy, and Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Spain.
In the United States, one processing plant is located in Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, while sales offices are in Miami. In Asia, sales offices are located in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
; Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, China; Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan; Taipei
Taipei
Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...
, Taiwan, and Busan
Busan
Busan , formerly spelled Pusan is South Korea's second largest metropolis after Seoul, with a population of around 3.6 million. The Metropolitan area population is 4,399,515 as of 2010. It is the largest port city in South Korea and the fifth largest port in the world...
, South Korea.
Criticism
Marine Harvest has been criticised for destroying a large part of the weirWeir
A weir is a small overflow dam used to alter the flow characteristics of a river or stream. In most cases weirs take the form of a barrier across the river that causes water to pool behind the structure , but allows water to flow over the top...
Murray's Cauld on the Ettrick Water in Selkirk, Scotland, through what has been claimed to be inaction. The company sold its nearby fish farm to a local businessman for £1 in July 2008, who has since been given permission to commence repair work on the weir.
Marine Harvest's operations have been severely affected in the south of Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, where millions of fish have died by the disease infectious salmon anemia
Infectious salmon anemia
Infectious salmon anemia or anaemia is a viral disease of Atlantic Salmon that affects fish farms in Canada, Norway, Scotland and Chile, causing severe losses to infected farms...
. The rapid propagation of the virus has motivated the enterprise to sell some of its facilities, firing more than a thousand employees, with the aim of translating its installations further south to the Aisén Region. Parasitic
Parasitism
Parasitism is a type of symbiotic relationship between organisms of different species where one organism, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the other, the host. Traditionally parasite referred to organisms with lifestages that needed more than one host . These are now called macroparasites...
, viral and fungal infections are all disseminated when the fish are stressed and the centres are too close together, and a spokesman for Marine Harvest recognized that his company was using too many antibiotic
Antibiotic
An antibacterial is a compound or substance that kills or slows down the growth of bacteria.The term is often used synonymously with the term antibiotic; today, however, with increased knowledge of the causative agents of various infectious diseases, antibiotic has come to denote a broader range of...
s in Chile and that fish pens were too close, contributing to the dissemination of the ISA virus. Norwegian scientist Are Nylund has suggested that Marine Harvest introduced the ISA virus to the region by importing infected eggs from Norway.