Ross Beaty quotes HS Orka as strategic asset for a premium price

In a recent interview with Canada’s leading newspaper The Globe & Mail, Ross Beaty the CEO of Magma Energy is reflecting on the company’s activities and in particular the acquisition of Icelandic HS Orka.

As part of that acquisition, there has been some controversy in Iceland namely on the issue of foreign ownership in its natural (geothermal) resources.

He states correctly that there has been a misperception on the issue of ownership of the resources, as the company (HS Orka) has only utilization rights for a set period of time and no ownership in the resource3s.

He also reflects on his interaction with Icelandic singer Björk, who has been leading the very public discussion on the energy market, the activities of Magma and general ownership and “exploitation” of the country’s natural resources.

Ross then talks about the perception that a “foreign company came to strip assets” in a crisis-struck Iceland. He believes that Magma Energy “paid a very high price” for the HS Orka acquisition and that he considers it to have been a “premium price, because … it was a strategic asset”.

HS Orka is now a “core piece of the company” and “absolutely perfect for the business plan of Magma Energy.”

Source: The Globe & Mail