Viking Holdings, the European cruise line operator, is seeking to raise more than $1 billion in a public offering next week that could become the second-biggest IPO of 2024.
Viking is scheduled to price on April 30 and trade the next day, a person familiar with the deal told Fortune. The Pembroke, Bermuda–based company plans to sell 44 million shares at $21 to $25 each, according to a regulatory filing dated April 22. Viking will be offering 11 million shares with the remainder coming from shareholders, according to a statement. BofA Securities and JPMorgan are lead underwriters on the deal, which could end up valuing Viking—slated to trade under VIK on the New York Stock Exchange—at almost $11 billion.
Torstein Hagen, Viking’s chairman and CEO, founded the company in 1997. It has a fleet of 92 vessels that travel to all seven continents, including special expeditions to Antarctica and to the Arctic North.
“Looking toward the future, we believe there are a number of opportunities for growing Viking,” Hagen wrote in a letter accompanying the filing. “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.”
Revenue for Viking rose 48% to $4.7 billion in 2023. The company was profitable in 2022 but posted $1.86 billion in losses last year, and it’s highly leveraged, reporting $5.4 billion in total debt as of Dec. 31.
“We have substantial indebtedness and we may not be able to generate sufficient cash to service all of our indebtedness or to obtain additional financing if necessary,” Viking said in the regulatory filing.
The company is also backed by private equity. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and TPG likely will each have nearly 5% of the firm’s voting power after the IPO.
The IPO market is bouncing back. Last week, Ibotta rose 17% during its first day of trading after pricing at $88. Rubrik, a Microsoft-backed cloud data security provider, is scheduled to list shares on Thursday and could raise as much as $713 million. Also on Thursday, Marex Group, a U.K.-based financial services platform, is expected to trade, according to IPOScoop.com.
The year’s biggest IPO still belongs to Amer Sport, the maker of Wilson tennis racquets, which raised $1.37 billion in February, according to data from Dealogic. Viking, if it prices at the top of its range, could raise as much as $1.1 billion.
