Norwegian has agreed to buy Nordic Leisure Travel Group (NLTG) in a deal that brings together airline operations, package holidays, hotels and travel experiences under one ownership structure. The acquisition is valued at around 727 million euros, equivalent to about 7.94 billion Swedish kronor, and is expected to close in the second half of 2026.
The move combines Norwegian, Wideroe and the tour operator group in a bid to lift operating revenue by close to 50 percent and expand growth in both leisure and business travel. It also gives the airline access to NLTG‘s hotel portfolio in Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Thailand and Turkiye, alongside the package holiday brands Ving, Spies, Tjareborg and Globetrotter. The transaction also brings in Sunclass Airlines, NLTG‘s own charter carrier, along with its hotel brands Sunwing, Sunprime and Ocean Beach Club, plus the onboard retail platform Airshoppen.
Once combined, the enlarged group will operate close to 160 aircraft and serve around 30 million customers a year. Norwegian and Wideroe currently carry about 27 million passengers across nearly 390 scheduled routes, while Sunclass Airlines runs a fleet of 12 Airbus aircraft, including A321s and twin aisle A330neos, focused on around 25 leisure charter destinations. The two networks overlap only slightly, which Norwegian says should help improve aircraft utilisation and broaden its leisure offering.
Geir Karlsen, Norwegian‘s chief executive, called the deal a milestone in Nordic travel history and said the combination would build a better and more flexible customer offering by pairing NLTG‘s leading position in leisure travel with the group’s wider route network. Magnus Wikner, chief executive of NLTG, said the takeover marked a fantastic milestone in their 70 year history and the start of a new era for the company.
Under the terms of the transaction, around 321 million euros will be paid in cash, drawn from the SEK 3.5 billion cash component of the deal. The rest is covered through 300 million new Norwegian shares, based on the recent five day average share price, with the possibility of up to 30 million additional shares to be determined later in 2026 depending on performance.
Strawberry, Altor and TDR Capital, the current owners of NLTG, are set to become significant shareholders in the enlarged Norwegian group once the deal closes, holding around 8.9 percent, 8.9 percent and 4.4 percent respectively. Strawberry and Altor are also expected to gain representation on the company’s board. The transaction is supported by Geveran Trading Company, Norwegian‘s largest shareholder.
Norwegian said it would also study a secondary listing on the Stockholm Stock Exchange to reflect the greater size and weight of the new group in the Nordic market. The company is currently listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange.
The deal still needs to clear several hurdles before it can close. Norwegian shareholders are expected to vote on the transaction at an extraordinary general meeting around 8 July 2026, and the deal also requires regulatory clearance, including approval from the European Union’s competition authorities, alongside other customary closing conditions.
Norwegian expects the acquisition to be earnings accretive from 2027, improving further the following year, with operating margins set to rise by around two percentage points compared with current levels. The company also plans to extend its Spenn loyalty programme, currently shared with the hotel group Strawberry, to NLTG‘s brands and concept hotels, while developing Airshoppen further as part of its broader commercial strategy.
The agreement adds another layer to the consolidation of travel and aviation in the Nordic region, where operators are increasingly looking to link flights, hotels and tours to increase customer spending and make use of wider distribution networks. It marks Norwegian‘s second major acquisition in three years, following its takeover of regional carrier Wideroe in 2023, and pushes the airline further from a purely scheduled flight business toward a fully integrated travel group spanning aviation, package holidays, hotels and leisure experiences.
