Norwegian fish farmer Austevoll bids to buy peer
OSLO, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Norwegian fish farmer Austevoll Seafood (AUSS) (AUSS.OL) placed a mandatory offer for peer Leroy Seafood Group (LSG.OL) on Tuesday and said it aimed to develop the group through further consolidation.
Austevoll offered 59 Norwegian crowns ($9.52) per share after buying 5.4 million shares at the same price, increasing its stake to 43.4 percent and triggering the mandatory offer for the rest of the stock, the group said.
The bid was at a premium of 30.5 percent to Leroy's closing price of 45.20 crowns on Monday and values the entire group at about 3.16 billion Norwegian crowns ($509.7 million).
Shares in LSG traded up 28.3 percent at 58 crowns at 0831 GMT on a surging Oslo stock exchange .OSEBX. Austevoll's shares were up 2.3 percent at 17.50 crowns.
"It is Austevoll's clear aim and intention to contribute to the development of LSG through further consolidation in the industry," Austevoll said in a statement, adding that it had retained Pareto Securities as a financial adviser.
Austevoll operates in Norway, Peru and in Chile. In Chile, it has struggled with fish disease alongside other fish groups. The world's biggest fish farmer, Norwegian Marine Harvest Group (MHG.OL), is the biggest operator in the business in Chile. (Reporting by Aasa Christine Stoltz; Editing by Paul Bolding)
