Hong Kong buys into a rejuvenated Atlantic Sapphire

TWO significant developments have been announced overnight around the Florida land based salmon company Atlantic Sapphire.

The company has announced on the Oslo Stock Exchange that its water temperature problems are now back under control.

It has also been revealed that the Hong Kong based venture capital fund VLTCM has bought a ten per cent stake in the business through the purchase of 79.6 million shares.

The move will raise gross proceeds of US $65 million (£52.8m) through the allocation of 501,428,571 new shares at a price per share of NOK 1.40.

It will also make VLTCM one of the main shareholders after the Norwegian family owned salmon company Nordlaks.

The more immediate problem was fixing the elevated water temperature problems which led to a lower biomass gain.

Atlantic Sapphire said the additional chillers designed to bring water temperatures back to targeted levels were delivered during the second half of September and have since been brought on line.

The statement added: “With the added water-cooling capacity, the company has now brought temperatures across all grow-out systems down to approximately 14 degrees Celsius, which is in line with targeted levels.

“Having stable temperatures at the right level is a pre-requisite to achieve good biological performance.

“The company harvested a total volume of approximately 365 tonnes  in the three months ended September 30, 2023, while the net biomass gain for the same period was approximately 100 tonnes (RLW or live weight).

As described in the company update on September 19, 2023, the Q3 2023 biomass gain was negatively impacted by the operational challenges with high water temperatures in the quarter. “

The standing biomass at the end of September was approximately 2,350 tonnes live weight, it adds. Further details will be released on November 1st.