Dagens Næringsliv reports on Friday that Meraker Brug is being put up for sale. With an area of 1.3 million acres, it is the country’s largest privately owned property. It makes up over 90 per cent of the entire Meråker municipality, in addition to extending into the municipalities of Stjørdal, Malvik and Steinkjer. According to DN, Meraker Brug has a market value of more than NOK 1.5 billion. Today, 94 percent of the property is owned by the Hans Rasmus Astrup Foundation and the Thomas Fearnley, Heddy and Nils Astrup Foundation. The Astrup Fearnley Museum on Tjuvholmen in Oslo has the same owners, and it is to secure capital for the operation and to be able to buy more art, that Meraker Brug is now put up for sale. The area marked in yellow shows the part of Meraker Brug which is located in Meråker municipality. In addition, the company owns property in the municipalities of Stjørdal, Malvik and Steinkjer. Graphics: The Norwegian Mapping Authority The mayor of Meråker was informed about the sale this week, according to DN. – We are considering selling Meraker Brug. The only purpose is to build up a capital base to support the operation of the museum, buy new art continuously and secure the museum forever, says chairman of the board Richard Arnesen of the Hans Rasmus Astrup Foundation to the newspaper. Great owners With the Stjørdal river flowing through Meraker Brug, the property has long been a popular place for both fishing and hunting. In addition, you will find cottage plots, ski resorts, forestry and hydropower plants here. Meraker Brug is a favorite outdoor area, where people come to both hunt and fish, and to ski. Photo: Stian Grasli Chairman of the board of Meraker Brug, Trygve Ebbing, brags about the current owners and believes that they have done their best to create business and ripple effects for the local area. – They have been great owners for the farm for more than 100 years. Their priority, and that they want to spend capital on slightly different things, must be respected, says Ebbing to news. He hopes that any new owners will continue to invest in the property. – I hope there will be someone who is as interested in further developing the business as the owners we have had so far. – Do you think there will be great interest in buying the property? – I do not know. But I’m assuming that, yes. The chairman of the board of Meraker Bruk, Trygve Ebbing, calls Meraker Brug a large, beautiful and varied property. Photo: Espen Sandmo More stakeholders Several Norwegian financiers, hunting enthusiasts, fishing enthusiasts and institutions must have already shown their interest in connection with a possible sale. According to Richard Arnesen, the most important thing for them is to find the right owner, and someone who understands the value of the collaboration with Meråker municipality. – We are not only concerned with price, but also finding a right owner who thinks long-term. A lot of money has been invested in the property and modest dividends have been taken out, but everything has been reinvested to create a unique property, he tells DN. Meraker Brug is also not the only large property that has been for sale recently. Last year, investor Bjørn Rune Gjelsten bought Værdalsbruket for 900,000 acres for NOK 800 million: Long history The property that is today Meraker Brug has been in the Astrup family since 1888. Before that time, parts of the property were actually owned by the Danish royal family, and it has for a long time been seen as very valuable, among other things due to good salmon fishing, forestry, limestone quarries and copper deposits. The company Meraker Brug itself was established in 1906. Although Hans Rasmus Astrup is said to have loved the property, the foundation sees him as the most important thing to preserve his great interest and life’s work for posterity; namely, art. For Hans Rasmus Astrup, the art collection became the very work of life that would secure him a ticket into eternity.
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Norway’s largest private property, Meraker Brug, is put up for sale – news Trøndelag
