Norwegian acquires Nordic Leisure Travel Group | News
Norwegian has entered into an agreement to acquire Nordic Leisure Travel Group (NLTG), the leading hotel and leisure travel experience company in Scandinavia. The transaction brings together household names and award-winning brands such as Ving, Spies, Tjäreborg, Globetrotter and Sunclass Airlines with Norwegian and Widerøe, creating a stronger and unique end-to-end Scandinavian travel player. The acquisition combines NLTG’s expertise in package holidays and hotels with Norwegian and Widerøe’s existing network of 27 million passengers. Together, the combined company will create a leading Scandinavian provider of leisure and business travel. For travelers, this means a wider choice of destinations, easier bookings and seamless travel.
The agreement will unite Norwegian, Widerøe and NLTG under a single ownership structure, creating a vertically integrated travel group across the leisure and business segments. The addition of a new branded hotel and leisure business will enable Norwegian, Widerøe and NLTG to develop distinctive value drivers, while benefiting from strong group coordination to unlock synergies, optimize performance and deliver greater customer value. The group will be able to offer everything from individual flights over Norwegian and Widerøe’s extensive route network to complete holiday packages with Ving from Norway and Sweden, Spies from Denmark, Tjäreborg from Finland and Globetrotter. This leading, integrated Scandinavian travel group will include nearly 160 aircraft and extensive tour and hotel operations, serving a total of approximately 30 million customers per year. Included in the acquisition are NLTG’s profitable proprietary concept hotels in Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Thailand and Türkiye, which will now benefit from a steady flow of customers from an extensive group network. The transaction is expected to increase the group’s annual operating revenue by almost 50 percent.
“This is a milestone in Scandinavian travel history. Norwegian and Widerøe remain committed to providing competitive air travel for our customers. By adding NLTG’s leading position in leisure travel to the Norwegian Group’s extensive route network, we are building a better and more flexible customer offering. We see a significant opportunity to grow hotel and holiday sales among our existing customer base, making every flight a potential gateway to a full holiday experience and meaningful additional revenue per passenger. In addition, we are creating a stronger platform for growth in the Nordic countries, especially in Sweden and Denmark, and through multiple travel concepts we can increase visibility of freight and bookings earlier in the booking period. This transaction will secure NLTG’s Nordic ownership and deliver a more comprehensive product for all current and new Norwegian, Widerøe and NLTG customers,” said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.
Sunclass Airlines, NLTG’s subsidiary, operates a fleet of twelve medium- and long-haul Airbus aircraft. The Sunclass, Norwegian and Widerøe networks have limited overlap. Norwegian’s nearly 390 routes are concentrated on scheduled traffic to key destinations in the Nordics, Europe and closely neighboring countries, while Sunclass serves approximately 25 destinations focused on leisure charters, allowing better utilization and greater coverage when routes are coordinated within the combined group. NLTG also operates its own travel retail platform, Airshoppen, whose strategy for further growth and development will be strengthened across the enlarged group.
Joint growth and synergies
Norwegian sees a clear path to grow NLTG’s revenue and profitability in the coming years. NLTG plans to achieve this by optimizing flight programs, potentially doubling the number of successful in-house concept hotels, improving the volume of the existing hotel portfolio, recent and future deliveries of new and fuel-efficient Airbus A321neo and A330neo aircraft, and implementing a series of profit-enhancing measures effective as early as 2027. In addition, Norwegian also expects to create significant value by leveraging its broader network to reach new leisure destinations such as mainland Spain, and by connecting its flights to Widerøe’s offering holiday guests a seamless travel experience. Further value will be created by offering package holidays to Norwegian’s extensive customer base. The shared Spenn loyalty points, already used by Norwegian and Strawberry, are expected to be extended to NLTG’s brands and concept hotels. The acquisition is expected to deliver substantial synergies and increase profits for Norwegian shareholders as early as 2027, and further improve from 2028. In addition to continued growth and synergies, the profit-enhancing initiatives are expected to increase underlying operating margin by approximately 2 percent in 2027 versus the trailing twelve months to March 2026, with further improvement from 2028 and beyond.
“We are confident that this transaction will create substantial long-term value. The acquisition is a strategic step that prepares our company for the future. The transaction is supported by a unanimous board, which reflects our clear ambition to build the leading integrated travel group in Scandinavia, which is the best choice for both business and leisure travelers,” said Dag Mejdell, Chairman of Norwegian’s Board of Directors.
A simpler and better customer offering
The new group brings together the range of flights and holiday packages in one company. Travelers will benefit from a wider selection of destinations and hotels, and a more seamless travel experience from booking to arrival.
“I have a great passion for hotels and hotel experiences, and our ambition at NLTG has always been to create unique hotel concepts tailor-made for Scandinavian guests. NLTG already has an ambitious pipeline of new concept hotels planned for the coming years, but through this partnership with Norwegian we are unlocking a unique opportunity to further accelerate that growth by bringing our great concept hotels to many new destinations across the extensive Norwegian route network. The new Norwegian Group will become one of Strawberry’s largest strategic investments, and we are committed to being long-term owners and active partners in its continued development and growth,” said Petter A. Stordalen, founder and owner of Strawberry.
“This is a fantastic milestone in our 70-year history and the start of a new era for NLTG. With Norwegian as our owner, we gain access to one of the most extensive flight networks in Europe. It gives us a completely new platform to broaden our customer offering and reach more customers, not least when it comes to a broader hotel portfolio, tailored to the Scandinavian customer,” said Magnus Wikner, Chief Executive Officer of NLTG.
Transaction details and process
The consideration for the acquisition is approximately SEK 7.94 billion, consisting of a cash component of SEK 3.5 billion and 300 million Norwegian shares, based on the last five-day average share price (VWAP) of NOK 14.95 and SEKNOK exchange rate of 1.01. In addition, up to 30 million additional shares will be payable, to be determined in the fourth quarter of 2026. The cash component will be funded through a combination of cash, bond issuance and other sources to be arranged prior to closing. Upon completion, NLTG’s current owners – Strawberry, Altor and TDR – will become significant shareholders of the combined group. The substantial equity component indicates that the selling shareholders continue to align with and have confidence in the combined group. Strawberry and Altor will each own about 8.9 percent and TDR will own about 4.4 percent, assuming no additional shares are issued. Strawberry and Altor will each nominate one representative for representation on the Board of Directors. Strawberry, Altor and TDR have agreed to a customary lock-up period of 180 days for their consideration shares after closing, subject to customary waivers or waivers by the Board of Directors.
The cash component will be financed by a combination of cash from the Norwegian balance sheet and new credit facilities to be arranged before closing. The current owners of NLTG have agreed to a lock-up period of 180 days for their new shares. Norwegian will also consider a secondary listing in Stockholm following the closing, to reflect the expanded group’s broader Nordic shareholder base and customer footprint.
Completion of the transaction is subject to approval by the Extraordinary General Meeting of Norway, regulatory approvals, including clearance from European competition authorities, and other customary closing conditions. The EGM is expected to take place on or around July 8, 2026 to approve an authorization for the share issue to the Board of Directors. Closure is planned for the second half of 2026.
