We advised Santa's Holding Oy, Lappset Group Oy and the Länkinen family on a landmark Arctic tourism partnership

SantaPark Arctic World and Arctic Resort Company have agreed to partner, bringing together established hospitality, destination and experience businesses across Finnish Lapland and Northern Norway. The transaction was structured through a combination of share deals, a business transfer and a significant reinvestment by the Länkinen family.

Ilkka Länkinen and Katja Ikäheimo-Länkinen will continue to play an active role in shaping the Arctic Resort Company's future development. Santa´s Holding Oy is now the largest private shareholder in Arctic Resort Company. The partnership unites two complementary businesses with deep expertise in Arctic tourism, with the ambition of building a major Nordic travel company offering Norway and Finland under one roof.

Going forward, Arctic Resort Company will operate the Länkinen family's SantaPark Arctic World brands, including Arctic Treehouse Hotel, the new Aino Private Island, Rakas Restaurant, SantaPark – The Home Cave of Santa Claus, Santa Claus Secret Forest – Joulukka, and Lapland Luxury DMC. The group also includes the tourism business of fellow Arctic Resort Company shareholder and Longship co-founder Osthus, headquartered in Tromsø and Kirkenes, Norway.

Our work covered the full legal scope of the transaction. The Eversheds team was led by Partner Kirsi Karvonen, together with Torsti Lakari, Miku Parmola, Tiina Koivisto, Rosa Junttila and Josefina Lind.