CMS advises Stena on its acquisition of Color Line
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CMS, led by CMS Wistrand and with a cross-border team across Sweden, Norway and Germany, has advised Stena on its agreement to acquire Norwegian ferry operator Color Line.
Under the agreement, Stena AB’s wholly owned subsidiary Stena Rederi AB will acquire all shares in Color Group AS from ONS Invest II AS. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to be completed towards the end of Q1 or during Q2 2027.
According to Stena’s own press release, the transaction brings together two companies with complementary operations in European passenger and freight transport. Following completion, Color Line will continue as a separate company and brand, with its headquarters in Norway.
The transaction has been advised by a cross-border CMS team across Sweden, Norway and Germany. The work was led by CMS Wistrand partner Mattias Boqvist, with CMS Norway partner Frode Olsen leading the Norwegian workstreams, supported by a wider CMS team across the three jurisdictions. The Danish aspects of the transaction were advised by Haagen & Møller.
The Swedish team also included Anton Bengtsson (Senior Associate, M&A) and Douglas Palm (Associate, M&A), Kristofer Selvin (Partner, Banking & Finance), and Hanna Trygg (Partner, Public Procurement/Real Estate).
CMS Norway brought together a broad multidisciplinary team comprising Frode Olsen (Partner, M&A), Nora Rennemo (Senior Associate, M&A), Sofie Emilie Stølan (Senior Associate, M&A), Iman Sudic (Associate, M&A), Ida Grøstad (Partner, Employment), Dag Thomas Hansson (Partner, Banking & Finance), Henrik Nordling (Partner, Competition), Håvard Henriksen (Senior Associate, Competition), Daniel Røvik (Senior Associate, Real Estate) and Vilde Songve (Senior Associate, Real Estate).
The CMS Germany team included Peter Polke (Partner, M&A), Tim Blöcher (Associate, M&A).
Mattias Boqvist, Partner at CMS Wistrand, comments:
We are genuinely excited to have advised Stena on this important transaction. Congratulations to Stena and all parties involved, and a big thank you to the CMS team across Sweden, Norway and Germany for a great cross-border effort. A special thank you to Frode and our colleagues at CMS Norway for a fantastic job.
Stena Line describes the transaction as a milestone in its history. Color Line is Norway’s largest and one of Europe’s leading cruise and ferry operators, operating five ships across four international ferry routes.
