Yesterday, the new ownership trio of the Ving Group was presented, it consists of Altor Fund V (Altor), Strawberry Group, controlled by Petter Stordalen and TDR Capital. The ownership group ensures a strong and long-term Nordic majority ownership of the Nordic business, consisting of 2,300 employees. Early Thursday morning, the deal could be formally closed, which means that, as of today, the new Nordic Leisure Travel Group, formed by the owners, owns Ving, Spies, Tjäreborg and the Nordic airline, which has now changed its name to Sunclass Airlines.
“It is a fantastic business that ended up in a very unfortunate situation. The Ving Group is the market leader in the holiday business, thanks to its own hotel concepts such as Sunwing and Sunprime and has also been the leaders in the transition to online bookings. Through a financial restructuring, we, as new owners, together with other financiers, have secured about SEK 6 billion in liquidity and guarantees. It secures jobs for employees and vacation trips to all customers and it creates a stable base for future development” says Harald Mix, partner at Altor.
“I am extremely pleased that Altor, Stordalen and TDR will be our new owners. It secures the business, all booked trips and our employees’ jobs. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the employees who have worked day and night over the past few weeks to keep our business alive and to all the guests and partners who have shown us fantastic support. Of course, I would also like to extend a big thank you to the new owners. I am incredibly proud and happy that we are here today and I am convinced that our new owners will bring fantastic opportunities for us in the future” says Magnus Wikner, CEO of the Ving Group in the Nordic region.
About Altor
Since inception, the family of Altor funds has raised some EUR 8.3 billion in total commitments. The funds have invested in more than 60 companies. The investments have been made in medium sized predominantly Nordic companies with the aim to create value through growth initiatives and operational improvements. Among current and past investments are Dustin, Byggmax, Navico, Infotheek, Orchid, Wrist Ship Supply, Sbanken, Rossignol, Helly Hansen, SATS and Carnegie Investment Bank. For more information visit www.altor.com.
