Statement

Origin Enterprises Plc
22 January 2008


Origin Enterprises plc and Austevoll Seafood ASA commence discussions to combine
                their European fishmeal and fish oil businesses.

Origin Enterprises plc ('Origin') and Austevoll Seafood ASA ('AUSS') announce
that they have entered exploratory discussions with a view to combining their
respective fishmeal and fish oil operations within Europe. These discussions
will be subject to final agreement, confirmatory due diligence, mutually
acceptable legal documentation, respective Board approvals and relevant
consents.

Origin's fishmeal and fish oil activities are carried on through wholly owned
operations in Ireland and the United Kingdom in addition to its 50% interest in
a manufacturing facility in the Shetland Islands. AUSS carries out its European
fishmeal and fish oil operations through its wholly owned subsidiary Welcon
Invest AS.

Fishmeal and fish oil are specialised protein and energy raw materials
principally supplied to the aquaculture feed industry. The key demand driver for
these raw materials is the growth in global aquaculture. It is expected that by
2030 global aquaculture output will exceed world capture fish. The EU is a
deficit region for fishmeal and fish oil as it imports 70% of its requirements
principally from South America.

                                      Ends

Enquiries

Origin Enterprises plc
Brendan Fitzgerald, Chief Financial Officer                Tel: [phone]

Murray Consultants
Joe Murray                                                 Tel: [phone]
                                                           Tel: [phone]
Nominated Advisor
Davy Corporate Finance
Ivan Murphy, Director                                      Tel: [phone]


About Origin Enterprises plc

Origin Enterprises plc is a leading Agri-Nutrition and Food company listed on
the IEX and AIM markets of the Irish and London Stock Exchanges. The
Agri-Nutrition division, through its manufacturing and distribution operations
in Ireland and the United Kingdom, has leading market positions in the supply of
feed ingredients, crop nutrition and specialist marine proteins. The Group's
Food division, comprising sales, marketing, distribution and manufacturing
activities in Ireland, has leadership positions in ambient food across the
retail, food service and manufacturing sectors.

Website: www.originenterprises.com

About Austevoll Seafood ASA

Austevoll Seafood ASA is listed on the Norwegian Stock Exchange and has
operations in Norway, Peru and Chile. AUSS is one of the largest producers of
fishmeal, fish oil, canned and high concentrated Omega 3 products (marine
proteins) in the world.

Website: www.auss.no



                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange