Hurtigruten Group enters into an agreement to sell real-estate portfolio on Svalbard to Store Norske Spitsbergen Kullkompani AS (“Store Norske”)

Hurtigruten Group has signed an agreement with Store Norske to sell the real-estate portfolio on Svalbard. The real-estate portfolio is c. 40 000 square meters, including three hotels, office facilities, 40 apartments and two large retail premises. The total value of the transaction is NOK 690 million of which NOK 105 million is dependent on Hurtigruten Svalbard's sales performance. The transaction is expected to be closed during Q2 2021 and will have a net liquidity effect of approx. EUR 47 million at closing.

At closing, Hurtigruten Svalbard will enter into a 30-year operating lease agreement for the real-estate portfolio. The operating lease agreement substantiates Hurtigruten Group’s long-term strategic commitment to a land-based Svalbard operation, and Hurtigruten Group will continue to develop Svalbard as a marquee destination for adventure travel in the Arctic.

Carnegie AS acted as financial advisor to Hurtigruten Group in the transaction.