Building the Future of Ocean Industries

Structural tailwinds in defense and aquaculture driving a multi-year value expansion.

Nekkar ASA (Ticker: NKR)

Big Picture

Nekkar ASA is basically a bet on the future of the ocean economy — defense, digitalization, renewables, and aquaculture. It’s a small-cap Norwegian tech platform with real industrial depth: the company owns or controls several niche, world-leading businesses and has zero debt, a pile of cash, and exposure to multiple high-growth trends that are starting to move at once.

They’re sitting in a sweet spot: the world is rearming, the aquaculture industry is being forced to go sustainable, and offshore operations are going digital. Nekkar has a piece of each through its subsidiaries — Syncrolift, Intellilift, Techano, Globetech, and FiiZK.

What They Do

Syncrolift (90%) – builds giant ship-lift and docking systems for shipyards. They’re the #1 player globally, with around 90% share in naval/defense shipyard projects. Right now, tender activity is booming because of defense spending, but projects are taking longer than expected to close.

• They’ve got a NOK 7.4 billion pipeline, up 85% year-over-year. Around 70% of that is defense-related.

• Think of contracts like the Haakonsvern naval project (NOK 164m) as the medium size. If they land two or three of those over the next couple years (base case), revenue jumps sharply.

• Once margins normalize (back to 20%), Syncrolift alone could add MNOK 40–90 in EBITDA.

• Upside case: expansion into export markets as other NATO countries start modernizing naval infrastructure (+ headwinds from target of 2% GDP going towards defense expense)

Intellilift (51%) – the digital arm of the group. They make industrial automation and control systems for offshore drilling and load handling.

• Solid business with MNOK 11–19 per quarter in revenue and around 15% EBITDA margins.

• Their joint venture with Transocean (InteliWell) is getting strong traction.

Techano (90%) – designs high-end cranes and load-handling systems for renewables, subsea, and aquaculture vessels.

• The first projects had some cost overruns (classic “first project” problem), but the setup is now in place.

• New crane projects are moving ahead with better cost visibility, and they should start to show margin recovery once deliveries hit milestones. They have delivered 2 first cranes and now they have an order for two more, exactly the same, so pricing should be accurate generating an attractive margin.

• Positioned nicely for growth in offshore wind and aquaculture support vessels.

Globetech (67%) – the “steady Eddie” of the group. Provides IT and digitalization services for maritime customers.

• Pulling in about MNOK 25 per quarter with fat margins (21–28%).

FiiZK (39%) – this is the most exciting piece. They’re the market leader in closed and semi-closed cage systems for salmon farming — the key technology for making fish farming environmentally compliant.

• Norway’s new Miljøfleksordningen policy is a game-changer. It lets fish farmers reclaim previously restricted biomass if they switch to closed farming systems — and FiiZK makes exactly that.

• Their revenue’s already exploding: MNOK Q4 11 → Q1 24 → Q2 41 in recent quarters.

• In a base case, FiiZK could grow from ~MNOK 100 in 2025 to MNOK 400+ by 2027, doubling year after year as adoption takes off. Nekkar’s 39% stake means it gets meaningful upside exposure without having to fund it fully.

• In an upside case (fast adoption + export orders), FiiZK’s revenue could easily hit MNOK 500+ by 2027.

Skywalker – early-stage wind turbine installation system. Still in R&D, but could open another growth angle in offshore renewables.

The Numbers

• Market cap: MNOK 1,200

• Cash: MNOK 225

• Undrawn credit: MNOK 200

• No debt

So, you’ve got a debt-free balance sheet, growing pipeline, and multiple business lines that could all inflect higher within 18–24 months.

What Could Happen (Base Case)

If Syncrolift lands just two mid-sized defense projects (~MNOK 200 each) and margins normalize to 20%, you’re looking at MNOK 80+ incremental EBITDA there.
Add in a steady ramp at FiiZK (maybe MNOK 80–160 in Nekkar’s share of revenue by 2026–27), and suddenly you’re seeing 30–50% EBITDA growth over the medium term.

At a 10x multiple, which is what you’d expect for a capital-light tech-industrial mix, that points to MNOK 2.0–2.5 billion in fair value — roughly 50–80% upside from where it trades today.

Why It Works

• Defense tailwinds: rearmament = more naval shipyard upgrades, and Syncrolift owns that niche.

• Aquaculture reform: regulation forces innovation, and FiiZK is the market leader.

• Digitalization trend: Intellilift and Globetech keep the tech angle alive.

• Balance sheet: debt-free, cash-rich, flexible. M&A as part of the strategy for growth (target of NOK 2bn+ in 2027 through existing companies + 1-3 new buys). Important to mentioned very high ROIC on past M&A decisions.

• Execution leverage: when projects start to flow again, margins swing fast.

Risks to Watch

• Timing risk: Defense contracts are unpredictable — projects can take forever to close.

• Execution risk: Techano and early FiiZK scale-up could still have cost bumps.

• Minority exposure: FiiZK is only 39%-owned, so Nekkar doesn’t fully control it.

Bottom Line

Nekkar is a clean, cash-heavy platform with multiple structural growth drivers lining up — defense, aquaculture, renewables, and offshore tech. 2025 might still be a transition year, but from 2026 onward, there’s real potential for revenue and EBITDA to inflect.

At this valuation, you’re basically getting the optionality on FiiZK’s regulatory windfall and Syncrolift’s defense boom for free.

If execution stays on track, Nekkar looks like a re-rating story waiting to happen.

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