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– No, I must not sell. But I feel that the time has come. I’m not getting any younger. In addition, the now approved plan for the construction of a further 60 to 80 new rooms here probably represents a bit too big of a financial boost to take on alone.
So says Aud Melås, the 62-year-old originally from Leikanger a little further out in the fjord, who after 15 years in San Francisco ended up in the well-known tourist village of Sogn.
With her was a husband, Evan William Lewis, who saw great possibilities. She herself was skeptical.
Flåmsbrygga and Ægir Bryggeri in Flåm are owned by Aud Melås, with her husband Evan William Lewis as brewery manager. Now she has put the entire group up for sale. (Photo: Private) More…
Strong results
In the local newspaper, the two were described as a somewhat awkward couple. Aud left behind a promising career as a bank manager in a Japanese commercial bank in the US, while Evan (52) was a long-haired and beer-interested musician type from Rochester, New York.
– He was the one who made me go back to Norway. In 2004 we bought the tiny cafe Furukroa in Flåm. A little later, we built the Flåmsbrygga hotel with 41 rooms. While Evan realized his dream of building his own brewery after inspiration from everything that happened on the beer front on the west coast of the USA, she says.
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Ægir Bryggeri has since won several awards.
– The beer market has become somewhat tougher in recent years, but the tourism business has become a great success if I do say so myself. So this has been an adventure, says Melås.
This is also shown by the group figures for the main company Vetlesyster, which includes property, hotel operations, the cafe, brewery pub, restaurant, brewery and well over 40 per cent of the shares in the activity company Fjordsafari Norway with a total of 68 man-years.
Last year, the group had revenues of NOK 92 million and an operating profit of almost NOK 12 million. For tourism, this is surprisingly strong, not least considering that the subsidiary Ægir made an operating loss of almost NOK three million in the same year.
Vetlesyster, annual result 2022 (in NOK MNOK) 2022 2021 Change Turnover 91.9 59.5 54.5% Operating profit (ebit) 11.9 4.5 164.4% Profit before tax 8.8 2.3 282.6%
Great values
Melås has now been given permission to build a much larger hotel with up to 80 new rooms on six floors.
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– I have realized that it will probably be a bit too big a lift for us to take on alone. The new building will cost well over NOK 100 million. Maybe even over 200 million, if I, who am so interested in design and architecture, were to decide. It might not be so wise, she says, laughing.
– We can of course bring in external owners, but then I think we will quickly become minority shareholders. I don’t like other people deciding what to do, she adds.
– Also, I think a little about age. But I’m in no rush and may well continue this for a few more years, but want to probe the terrain to see if there is anyone else who wants to take over my gold here on the pier.
A possible sale includes both property, operations and the shares in the activity company.
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– What about Ægir Bryggeri?
– We are open to selling it as well. It may well be that the brewery is sold separately, but Ægir and the rest of the business are closely linked.
– Who do you think could be a current buyer here? Most of the big hotel chains would prefer to only be in the cities?
– That is probably correct, but then they would only need to know what numbers we have. Because while most city hotels struggle to reach an occupancy rate of over 70 throughout the year, we are on track for 85-86 percent occupancy this year. In October, we are currently at an occupancy rate of 93 per cent. So we are definitely not a seasonal company.
At Flåmsbrygga Hotell, Aud Melås has been given permission to build up to 80 new rooms. (Photo: Private) More… The article continues below the ad
Up to 200 million?
Melås dares not say anything about what she thinks the highly profitable tourism group in Flåm might be worth. But before depreciation, the group delivered well over NOK 16 million in profit last year. If one were to calculate a yield of eight percent, it indicates a possible value of up to NOK 200 million. In addition, the right to build up to 80 new rooms on its own plot in the middle of the tenderloin in Flåm comes.
Roar Ingdal has been hired as a consultant for sales. He has a long experience in the hotel industry and is now a director of the property consultancy company Colliers (formerly Pangea Property Partner).
– We are talking here about the companies that are among the most profitable in Norwegian tourism. This will be a transaction that includes both the hotel operation with large restaurant facilities, the property, an activity company and a plot of land on which a six-storey hotel can be built adjacent to the current hotel. We do not want to go out with a suggested price now, but here there will certainly be interest from both Norway and abroad, he writes in an email. (Terms) Copyright Dagens Næringsliv AS and/or our suppliers. We would like you to share our cases using links, which lead directly to our pages. Copying or other forms of use of all or part of the content may only take place with written permission or as permitted by law. For further terms see here.
The Flåmsbrygga group has room for up to 700 guests outside and inside the pier in Flåm. (Photo: Private) More…
2023-09-03 11:00:44
#sell #tourism #success #adventure
