Merger collapses after approval for major pelagic fishing company

A planned merger to create one of the largest pelagic fishing companies in the Faroe Islands has been called off, KVF reports.

The merger involved Ango in Vágur, Gráastein in Tórshavn and half of Kinnfelli in Miðvágur. The companies applied in the summer to merge after Kinnfelli split into two parts.

The three pelagic vessels involved have together caught fish worth between 250 million and 270 million Danish kroner annually in recent years. The proposed company would have accounted for 8 to 10 per cent of the total landing value of mackerel, blue whiting and Norwegian spring-spawning herring.

The merger appeared to be completed after the Competition Authority approved it. However, the applicants submitted counterproposals last week, shortly after the approval, and Gráastein will not be part of the merger after all. No one has said why.

Gráastein will continue under Birgir Lützen and Kim Durhuus, as before.

In Vágur, Tummas Henriksen remains with the vessel Katrin Jóhanna and half of the quota. Heri Godtfred, Hjarnar Dalsgaard and the other owners retain the other half of the quota but no vessel, as Ango was recently sold to Morocco.