Norway’s largest ferry company is being touted for sale.
Two years after shipowner Per Saevik’s Havila Holding and US alternative asset manager Vision Ridge Partners bought Fjord1, a buyer is being sought.
The owners have brought in advisory firm Rothschild & Co to test the waters, according to Norwegian daily Finansavisen.
The group, with 85 ships, is estimated to be worth between NOK 8bn ($760m) and NOK 10bn.
Cash flow from government contracts will be key for any buyer, sources told the newspaper.
Other Norwegian ferry companies Boreal, Norled and Torghatten are now foreign-owned, and Fjord1 could follow.
Infrastructure funds have been tipped as the most likely buyers.
Fjord1 has been contacted for comment.
The company has carried out a huge newbuilding programme over the last couple of years, adding 25 electric ferries.
Fjord1, run by chief executive Dagfinn Neteland, was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange from August 2017, but was delisted four years later following the takeover by Saevik and Vision Ridge.
Debt being reduced
The last financial figures available are from the first quarter of 2022, which show net interest-bearing debt at NOK 4.97bn, down 2% from the previous quarter.
“The company has lower investment commitments going forward and expects improving operating cash flows,” Fjord1 said in the report.
The long-term contract portfolio is worth NOK 20.3bn.
The net loss in the first three months of last year was NOK 1.7m, from a profit of NOK 7.7m in 2021.
Revenue was up 6% at NOK 736m.
In April 2022, the company cleared away debt maturities with its second refinancing in a year.
Unnamed global investors contributed to a NOK 6.5bn package to replace existing loan facilities.
Vision Ridge built its stake to 50% in August 2021 as part of a NOK 3bn refinancing.
Allianz Global Investors partially funded this acquisition and the refinancing of existing debt by providing the NOK 3bn.
Vision Ridge made its initial investment in Fjord1 in 2019.
At that time, the shipping company had just a single electric ferry route.
Since then, the firm has become an industry leader in the Norwegian ferry electrification industry.
