“We are excited to explore the opportunity with Norut. Norut appears to fit Norce well, both with regards to competence and geography, “says Thor Arne Håverstad, Managing Director of Teknova and Head of the Norce integration team.
Merger talks is familiar to Norce, as the new Norwegian research giant is still in the process of merging the five companies Uni Research, Christian Michelsen Research, the International Research Institute of Stavanger (IRIS), Agderforskning and Teknova.
“It is desirable and necessary with strong organizations that are able to compete in a demanding international market,” says Hans Olav Lindal, Chairman of Norce.
Both the Norwegian government and The Research Council of Norway are keen to see larger units in the research sector.
Norut is Northern Norway’s largest applied research and innovation group with offices in Tromsø, Alta and Bodø. The group has more than 100 employees, and UiT Norway’s Arctic University is the majority owner.
Norut has expertise in the Arctic, and conducts research activities in a number of areas, including satellite remote sensing, drones, ICT, energy, environment, biotechnology, business development and indigenous peoples.
Merger talks will probably be completed before the summer.
