Ice Fish Farm share issue raises €44m

Icelandic salmon farmer Ice Fish Farm has raised additional equity capital of €44m (NOK 500 million/£38m) in just a few hours, it was confirmed over the weekend.

The proceeds from the private placement will be used to fund investment and build up biomass.

Four associates had already committed in advance to subscribe around €29m (£25m). The loan agreement is with four banks and is conditional on shareholder loans of €26m being converted into shares.

It has been a busy few weeks for Ice Fish Farm, whose activities are located on Iceland’s east coast.

A month ago, the company secured a long term agreement with four banks for a loan of €156.2m (£137m).

A week later, Norway-based Måsøval Eiendom, the main shareholder in Ice Fish Farm, announced it had secured a strategic partner through a deal with the Icelandic fishing company Ísfélag Vestmannaeyja.

Like Måsøval, Ísfélag Vestmannaeyja is a successful family-owned company with a long impressive history and with deep roots into the Icelandic seafood sector, which has a lot of similarities with Måsøval Eiendom and they align well with its values.

Isfélag Vestmannaeyja’s vice-chairman Einar Sigurðsson said at the time: “We have a long tradition from the fishery sector, but we have over several years followed the strong growth within the salmon farming sector in Iceland.

“We believe that it will be a steadily growing industry in Iceland for many years to come, and create a lot of jobs and value for the communities along the Icelandic coastline.”