Sólbjarg

On 20 June 2019 Arion Bank acquired all shares in TravelCo hf. and its subsidiaries (TravelCo) following an enforcement of pledges. TravelCo was established following the collapse of Primera Air ehf. and Primera Travel Group hf. with the purpose of owning and operating tour operators in Scandinavia and Iceland. The enforcement primarily represented a change in ownership to safeguard continued operations and the Bank's interests with the aim of divesting all its shareholding in TravelCo and its subsidiaries. Sólbjarg ehf. is the holding company of the TravelCo group under the beneficial ownership of Arion Bank.

Arion Bank completed the sale of Terra Nova Sól ehf., a subsidiary of Sólbjarg, in Q1 2020.

The travel industry was hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic and suffered an almost total loss of income. The Scandinavian operations of TravelCo entered into financial restructuring in late 2020 and then entered bankruptcy proceedings where assets were put up for sale. Bravo Tours 1998 A/S was established in October 2020 and is now under 59.4% ownership of Sólbjarg and 40.6% under Danish ownership.

The Icelandic travel agency Heimsferðir is under the direct ownership of Sólbjarg. A sales and purchase agreement was signed with Ferðaskrifstofa Íslands ehf. in December 2020 for the sale of all operations of Heimsferðir ehf. The sale is subject to the approval of the Icelandic Competition Authorities. Sólbjarg will be a minority shareholder in Ferðaskrifstofa Íslands ehf.

Sólbjarg’s subsidiaries are classified as held for sale in accordance with IFRS 5.