Aquaculture and fish health service provider STIM has entered an agreement to purchase the fish health and environmental services arm of Pharmaq Analytiq.
STIM said the deal will see it acquire Pharmaq services in Scotland and Ireland, building on its existing business in the area to supply pharmaceuticals and fish health products to aquaculture companies in the region. After the transaction finalizes, the Pharmaq Analytiq Veterinary and Environmental Services team, as well as its operating assets in Inverness, Scotland, and Galway, Ireland, will transfer to STIM.
“In Norway, fish health services and environmental services have been an important part of our business for years, and we are delighted to expand our commitment to aquaculture in Scotland and Ireland in the same way,” STIM CEO Carl Erik Arnesen said in a press release. “I look forward to collaborating with the experienced Pharmaq Analytiq Veterinary and Environmental Services team and welcoming them as colleagues to STIM.”
The acquisition comes four months after private equity fund Summa Equity, the parent company of value-added salmon company Milarex, acquired STIM from its former parent company Nordly Holding for an undisclosed amount. Nordly Holding is owned by STIM Chairman and Founder Jim Roger Nordly, who announced in October 2023 that he had initiated the sale process of STIM.
Nordly said at the time that the sale was part of a strategy to expand STIM’s growth – which has in part come to fruition with the company’s latest acquisition.
“STIM believes in the transformative power of knowledgeable people working together, sharing ideas and experiences,” Arnesen said. We encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration between our fish health and environmental teams in Norway and across geographies. Our new colleagues in the U.K. and Ireland will contribute to our common pool of knowledge, furthering our ability to assist the aquaculture industry in achieving improved biological results and sustainable operations.”
STIM is the developer of the SuperSmolt FeedOnly smolt optimization system, a feed designed to induce smoltification in salmon. It has repeatedly defended its patents on the product and won multiple lawsuits against feed company BioMar. Those lawsuits ended with the latter company paying STIM millions in fines.
