Marine Farms - Marine Farms ASA – Acquires 100% of PIAGUA

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Marine Farms ASA
Postboks 2032, Nordnes
5817 Bergen
Norway

Phone: +47 55 90 44 70
Fax: +47 55 23 46 45

NO 930 501 778 MVA

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Marine Farms ASA – Acquires 100% of PIAGUA

Marine Farms has entered into an agreement to acquire the remaining 80% of the shares in PIAGUA (Spain) for a consideration of MEUR 5.75-6.00 (on a 100% equity basis), equivalent to an Enterprise Value (EV) of approximately EUR 9.25-9.50 mill. The acquiring entity will be Culmarex S.A.

PIAGUA has a production capacity of some 1,500 tons of seabass/seabream. An application has been made to increase the production capacity up to 2,500 tones, which will make it the biggest site in Spain.
Culmarex has been involved with PIAGUA since it began operations in 2000. The equipment and management methods of the company have been designed by Culmarex, the juveniles have been delivered by Culmarex, feed specifications and suppliers are the same as for Culmarex and 100% of PIAGUA’s production is today sold through Culmarex.
The purchase fits well with the strategy to strengthen Marine Farms’s cage farming cluster in the Valencia-Murcia-Andalucia region in Spain, possibly one of the most attractive regions for farming in the Mediterranean due to environmental conditions and its proximity to the large Spanish cities.

Marine Farms’ current seabass/seabream business is run through its 100% owned subsidiary Culmarex S.A. The Culmarex group is one of the largest and most profitable seabass/seabream producers in Spain in 2005, with an average EBIT/kg sold fish of about EUR 1.1. Total seabass/seabream sales in 2006 are expected to reach about 4,000 tons and the production capacity is approximately 6,300 tonnes.

No Agreement with Niord Sea – private placement announced on 23 June 2006 aborted
Marine Farms ASA did not manage to come to a satisfactory agreement with the owners of Niord Sea (see separate announcement). The terms with which they were willing to sell were not considered to be favourable to Marine Farms existing and new shareholders. Marine Farms has therefore decided to terminate the negotiations.

On the 23rd of June 2006, Marine Farms successfully completed a private placement in the gross amount of NOK 178 mill (see separate announcement). The private placement was subject to satisfactory completion of the acquisition of Niord Sea. Since this acquisition will not take place, the private placement will not be completed.

Marine Farms will continue to look for opportunities to expand its activity in the Valencia-Murcia-Andalucia region in Spain, the ambition being an efficient cluster with a production capacity of some 8.000-10.000 tons seabass/seabream.

For further information, please contact Bjørn Myrseth or Pål Angell-Hansen:
Tel: +47 55 90 44 70
e-mail: bjo This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it