Hofseth BioCare ASA ("HBC"
or the "Company") has entered into an agreement for sale and lease
of the Company's property at Midsund where the Company's production
facilities are located. In addition, wholly owned subsidiary HBC
Berkåk AS has also entered into an agreement for sale and lease of
the property at Berkåk where the HBC group's spray drying facility
is located.
Both agreements are entered
into with Syvde Eiendom AS, a wholly owned subsidiary of major
shareholder Alliance Seafoods Inc. The sale of the properties will
provide the Company with additional working capital to be used in
the ongoing commercialization of the Company's products, while the
lease agreements secures the Company long-term access to
well-suited factory premises.
The plants are sold for a
joint consideration of NOK 80 million, of which NOK 51.5 million is
payable for the Midsund plant and NOK 28.5 million is payable for
the Berkåk plant. The sales are made as direct sales of the
properties. The transactions are expected to be consummated on or
about 25 March 2017, subject to approval of the Company's general
meeting.
In connection with the
consummation of the transactions, the Company shall enter into a
15-year lease agreement regarding the Midsund property with an
annual lease sum of NOK 4,635,000 and HBC Berkåk shall enter into a
lease agreement for the Berkåk property with the same term and with
an annual lease sum of NOK 2,565,000.
- We are very pleased
to have completed these two transactions with Syvde Eiendom AS. We
see Alliance Seafoods as a strategically important partner, and
through the agreements now in place with their fully owned
subsidiary, our relationship will strengthen further, says CEO Tor
Erik Andersen of Hofseth BioCare ASA.
As the agreement regarding
sale and lease of the Midsund plant is entered into with a company
controlled by shareholder Alliance Seafoods Inc., the agreement
must be approved by the Company's general meeting. The Company
therefore calls for a general meeting to be held on 24 March 2017
at 13.00 hours CET at the Company's premises at Molovegen 6, 6004
Ålesund. Please see the attached notice, which will also be sent to
the shareholders per ordinary mail and be available at the
Company's website www.hofsethbiocare.no.
Certain major shareholders,
including Roger Hofseth and associated companies, Hofseth
International AS and Hofseth International AS group of companies,
Bonafide Global Fish Fund, and Deep Blue Ventures Fund, holding a
total of 56.77% of the total outstanding shares and votes have made
irrevocable commitments to vote in favour of the approval of these
agreements. Including Alliance Seafoods Inc., who is a part of this
transaction, the votes in favour of the transaction represent a
total of 71.05% of the outstanding shares in Hofseth BioCare
ASA.
The properties have not been
subject to separate financial reporting. No agreements have been
entered into that are for the benefit of members of the management
or board of directors of the Company in connection with the
abovementioned transactions.
This stock exchange notice
is published in accordance with the requirements for detailed stock
exchange announcements pursuant to section 3.4 of the Continuing
Obligations for companies listed on Oslo Axess.
For further information,
please contact:
Tor Erik Andersen, CEO of Hofseth BioCare ASA
Mob: +47 911 79 854
E-mail: tea@hofsethbiocare.no
Jon Olav Ødegård, CFO of
Hofseth BioCare ASA
Phone: +47 936 32 966
E-mail: joo@hofsethbiocare.no
About Hofseth BioCare
ASA:
HBC is a Norwegian biotech
company that offers high-value ingredients and finished products
for humans and pets. The company is founded on the core values of
sustainability, traceability and optimal utilization of natural
resources. Through an innovative hydrolysis technology, HBC is able
to preserve the quality of salmon oil, proteins and calcium,
prepared of fresh salmon off-cuts. HBC's objective is to contribute
to the efficient use of marine resources and deliver quality
products for ingredients and finished consumer products in the
nutrition market.
Hofseth BioCare's
headquarters are located in Ålesund, Norway with branches in Oslo,
Chicago, Mumbai and Tokyo. HBC is listed on Oslo Stock Exchange
Axess list with ticker "HBC". More information about Hofseth
BioCare at www.hofsethbiocare.com and
www.facebook.com/hofsethbiocare
About Alliance Seafoods Inc.
and Syvde Eiendom AS:
Alliance Seafoods is a fully
owned subsidiary of Yokohama Reito Co., Ltd ("Yokorei"), a Japanese
conglomerate listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Yokorei is a
leading player in the frozen storage market in Japan. In addition,
through Alliance Seafoods and other subsidiaries, Yokorei is
involved in sales and distribution of fish and meat with a
particular focus on the Asian market. Yokorei's consolidated
turnover for 2015 was approximately USD 1.5 billion.
HBC and Alliance Seafoods
have already had a business relationship for almost two years, and
Alliance Seafoods is a key partner for HBC in the Asian market. In
2016, Yokorei also announced the acquisition of Fjordlaks Aqua, a
leading trout farming company in Norway through a joint venture
owned together with Hofseth International, which is a major
shareholder of HBC.
Syvde Eiendom AS is a wholly
owned subsidiary of Alliance Seafood Inc. with it's main business
in ownership of processing and production facilities within the
Hofseth International Group. Syvde Eiendom AS owns today three
processing buildings in the Hofseth International Group.
This information is subject
to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the
Norwegian Securities Trading Act.