Interview: Dan Skjeldam, CEO, Hurtigruten
Building on its 125-year heritage, Norwegian shipowner Hurtigruten has become a leader in exploration travel offering voyages to more than 200 unique destinations in more than 30 countries ranging across the globe from the Arctic to the Antarctic and including cruises in Norway, Greenland, Svalbard, Iceland, Western Europe, and the Americas. In an interview with Maritime Reporter and Engineering News, Dan Skjeldam, the company’s CEO, emphasizes the need for the cruise industry…
Hurtigruten Shares at 6-yr High After Bid
Norway's Hurtigruten, which operates scenic cruise lines along the country's fjords and into the Arctic, has agreed to a takeover offer from a group led by several board members, driving its shares to six-year highs. Hurtigruten said on Wednesday it was recommending an offer of 7 crowns per share, a 55.6 percent premium on its last close, led by London-based private equity firm TDR Capital, property tycoon and board member Petter Stordalen and Chairman Trygve Hegnar. The bid, which values the company at about 2.94 billion crowns ($444 million), sent Hurtigruten's shares 52 percent higher, its highest level since 2008. "When you do a scan of the leisure space…
Take That! Carnival Keeps NCL War Alive
Carnival Corp. revived a war for control of Norway's NCL Holding last Thursday with plans for a $1.3 billion offer, topping a bid by Malaysia's Star Cruises. "Carnival Corp has informed the board of NCL that Carnival is prepared to pay 40 crowns per share for NCL Holding," NCL said in a statement. Star has offered 35 crowns per share. Carnival's planned offer would value NCL shares at about 10.6 billion crowns ($1.3 billion). Bidders will also have to assume NCL debts of about $800 million. NCL, the world's fourth biggest cruise firm, said. Carnival's planned bid was "conditional on approval by the U.S. The planned bid is an about-face for Carnival, the world's largest cruise operator.
