DIV Group is set to buy Kleven, a Norwegian shipyard recently purchased by Hurtigruten and a group of investors, according to various news outlets in Croatia.

Kleven recently delivered a pair of 530-guest expedition ships for Hurtigruten, with one more ship, due in 2021, set to follow. 

Brodosplit, owned by DIV Group, has two expedition cruise ships under construction in Croatia for Quark and Oceanwide, and in 2019 delivered the Hondius to Oceanwide.

Kjetil Bollestad, CEO at Kleven, was quoted as saying he was happy to see “a new and solid owner of the yard,” in media reports.

The purchase is expected to bring various synergies, including lower construction costs and better financing options.

In September, Kleven said in a press release that while in the long-term it plans to continue to focus on newbuilds, in the near term the yard will concentrate on what it called low-risk projects such as rebuilds, refurbishments and maintenance jobs in addition to pipe and steel work. That meant that Kleven cut back its workforce from 224 to 140, according to local news sources, which also said that the company had posted losses in the range of NOK 1 billion over the pasts four years (approximately $112 million).