Viking Cruises’ parent company has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in the US as it seeks to expand from river and ocean cruises into land-based tours and grow direct sales.
Viking Holdings has applied to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol VIK.
A filing made on Friday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission revealed the company is working with Bank of America Corp, JPMorgan Chase & Co, UBS Group AG and Wells Fargo & Co on the listing, reported Bloomberg.
The IPO is expected to raise at least $500 million, though the exact details of the number of shares and size of the offering were not disclosed in the filing, which had been flagged in February.
The company also disclosed a loss of about $1.9 billion in 2023 as cruise operating expenses increased by 33% to $2.85 billion.
The filing shows Viking posted adjusted Ebitda of $1.09 billion on revenue of $4.7 billion last year.
Founded in 1997 by chairman Torstein Hagen, the company has its corporate headquarters in Basel and its marketing base in Los Angeles.
Viking runs an expanding fleet of almost a dozen ocean cruise ships, each with a capacity of 998 passengers, together with 80 river vessels, with 10 more due for delivery in 2025-26.
More than half of passengers last year booked direct.
The company said in the IPO filing: “Direct bookings reduce commissions paid to travel agents, which reduces our distribution costs and improves our margins.
“Direct bookings also provide an additional opportunity for direct contact with our guests, allowing us to build stronger brand awareness and deliver a more personalised experience for our guests. With a marketing database that includes more than 56 million North American households, we believe our direct bookings will continue to grow and add value to our business.”
In the filing, Hagen described going public as a “natural move to further solidify our position as a great company”.
He said: “Looking toward the future, we believe there are a number of opportunities for growing Viking.
“We have 24 new ships on order, with options for 12 more. We have also started to enter new markets, such as China and elsewhere in Asia, where we see significant growth potential over the long term.
“Additionally, just as we have expanded our travel platform throughout our history, we are exploring other products, such as safaris and land tours, that would allow our guests to explore more of the world in Viking comfort.
“Experiences that appeal to our guests’ interests can complement our cruise offerings and would continue to cover ‘white spots’ that still exist on the world map.
“We view Viking as the premier provider of travel experiences for thinking people aged 55 and over.
“Thoughtfully expanding our travel platform further with new experiences that are a consistent extension of the Viking brand would enable us to capture a greater share of our guests’ travel spend.”
He pointed out that Viking relies on direct marketing to drive the majority of its bookings.
“With significant investments in marketing across various channels and the ability for customers to book directly with Viking, we have the ability to generate demand rather than wait for third parties to do so for us,” Hagen pointed out.
He added: “We are working to make our next generation of ocean ships even more environmentally friendly, with a project for a partial hybrid propulsion system of liquid hydrogen and fuel cells, which could allow us to operate with zero emissions while in port and while travelling at low speeds.”
Pictured: Viking Polaris