If all goes according to plan, Norwegian Hurtigruten will soon be British-owned. The board has recommended a sale to TDR Capital – a British equity firm. At NOK 7 per share, the company has been valued at NOK 2.94 billion.

Driving the transaction are majority shareholders Trygve Hegnar and Peter Stordalen. Hegnar previously held a majority interest in Norwegian Cruise Line and also ran the Miami-based company.

Hegnar, who started buying into Hurtigruten some five years ago, has been chairman of the board and will reduce his ownership from some 33 percent to less than 5 percent. He will reportedly receive close to NOK 1 billion for his shares and is expected to post a NOK 500 million profit on the deal.

Hurtigruten receives an annual government subsidy of NOK 640 million through 2019 in an agreement said to be engineered by Hegnar in 2012, far exceeding its previous support to maintain the coastal mail and cargo service in Norway.