Norway Rules Star Share Buying Legal

Norway's Industry Ministry gave Malaysia's Star Cruises a boost in a takeover battle for NCL Holding by saying Star's share buying did not violate Norwegian law. The ruling means that Star, which owns 47 percent of NCL, can vote at a key shareholders' meeting on Feb. 4. Ministry officials said NCL is a shipping company and therefor is exempt from a requirement obliging any buyer of a Norwegian business to notify the ministry when its holdings exceeded a third of the shares. NCL, the target of bids by Star and U.S. giant Carnival Corp., accused Star of skirting the law by failing to update Norwegian authorities when it reached one-third of the stock in December.