Mowi, the world's largest salmon farmer, said Monday it reached an agreement to acquire a controlling stake in Icelandic farmer Arctic Fish to acquire 51.28 percent of the shares in the company from rival SalMar as part of a deal clearing the way for the latter's merger with NTS.

Mowi's purchase of the shares is the result of a ruling Monday by the European Commission to approve Norwegian salmon farmer Salmar's purchase of a controlling stake in NTS, which would include a merger of SalMar's salmon farming operations with Norway Royal Salmon (NRS).