Supermarket tycoon buys further into Atlantic Sapphire
One of Norway’s wealthiest businessmen has purchased a further ten million shares in the Florida salmon farmer Atlantic Sapphire.
The purchase by Johan Johannson is worth NOK 50 million (NOK 5 per share) – or around £4m, according to an Oslo Stock Exchange announcement.
The purchase is part of a wider share issue announced by Atlantic Sapphire on 16 March when it said it wanted to raise at least US $50m (£40.3m) in a private placement.
The north Norwegian salmon farmer Nordlaks made an even larger purchase at US $10m (£8m) and Petter Stordalen’s Strawberry Equities subscribed for $6.5m (£5.2m).
The addition of Johan Johannson, whose main business is not salmon farming, is interesting. He is chairman of the family owned group Joh Johannson Eiendom and was reported a few years ago to be Norway’s fourth richest businessman. His company’s business roots are more than 150 years old.
He and his family own almost 75% of the large NorgesGruppen supermarket chain.
Married with three children, Johannson lives near Oslo, the Norwegian capital where he generally keeps a low profile.
Joh Johannson Eiendom now owns more than 17 million shares in Atlantic Sapphire, representing 6.48% of the total number of shares and voting rights.
The disclosure obligation was triggered by Joh Johannson Eiendom AS crossing above the 5% threshold of total number of voting rights and shares in the Company.
Atlantic Sapphire is currently pioneering Bluehouse® (land-raised) salmon farming, near Miami and says it is transforming protein production, globally.
The company has completed phase one which provides the capacity to harvest around 10,000 tonnes of salmon a year.
It is now working on phase 2 to bring annual production up to 25,000 tonnes with an eventual long term target of 220,000 tonnes.
Atlantic Sapphire’s Bluehouse salmon
