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Peter Ratcliffe News

21 Nov 2001

$6 Billion Dollar Merger Rocks Cruise Industry

On Tuesday, November 20, a major announcement shocked the cruise and financial industries when Richard Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, and Peter Ratcliffe, CEO of P&O Princess held a press conference in London to report that their two respective lines would join forces to form the world's largest cruise line, in a deal worth more than $6 billion. MR/EN had the opportunity to dial in to the conference, which occurred the morning of the merger at London's Lincoln Centre, to provide a first-hand account of this monumental transaction. In an era filled with terrorism, turmoil, economic frustration, massive layoffs and steep cutbacks…

20 Nov 2001

$6 Billion Cruise Deal

P&O Princess Cruises plc and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. have agreed to merge their companies in a deal approaching $6 billion, a move that will effectively create the world's largest cruise vacation group. The merger, spurred by an already softening economy and the September 11 terrorist attacks that have left cruise companies, among other transportation operators, grappling to fill ships, involves two companies with an aggregate revenue of more than $5 billion in the 12 months preceding September 30, 2001. The new company, which will pose a serious threat to Carnival Corp. - to now the world's largest cruise shipping organization - will commandeer 41 ships and some 75,000 berths, with another 14 ships and 30,000 berths coming on line in the next three years.

05 Dec 2001

$6 Billion Merger Tightens Cruise Industry

On Tuesday, November 20, a major announcement shocked the cruise and financial industries when Richard Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, and Peter Ratcliffe, CEO of P&O Princess held a press conference in London to report that their two respective lines would join forces to form the world's largest cruise line, in a deal worth more than $6 billion. MR/EN had the opportunity to dial in to the conference, which occurred the morning of the merger at London's Lincoln Centre, to provide a first-hand account of this monumental transaction. In an era filled with terrorism, turmoil, economic frustration, massive layoffs and steep cutbacks…

20 Dec 2001

Carnival Gives RCCL A Run For Its Money

Exactly one month to the day that P&O Princess and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines announced that they would merge to form a $6 billion cruise corporation, Micky Arison's powerhouse Carnival Corp. approached P&O with a $4.59 billion proposal. As reported in today's Wall Street Journal, P&O Princess, which initially rejected Carnival's offer, has now reconsidered and is currently weighing all its options of a possible merger with the "world's largest cruise line," - quite possibly leaving Royal Caribbean hanging out to dry. Despite these new developments, Royal Caribbean still stands firmly on its initial agreement with P&O Princess, according to Richard Fain, RCCL's chairman and CEO.

17 Dec 2001

P&O Princess Rejects Carnival’s Offer

The Board of P&O Princess states that, at the end of last week, Carnival conveyed its interest in a possible transaction with P&O Princess. Carnival's proposal is subject to several pre-conditions including regulatory approval and financing. After consider Carnival's proposal and reviewed it with its financial and legal advisors. Based on this review, the board has concluded that the proposed dual listed company transaction with Royal Caribbean remains the most attractive alternative for P&O Princess shareholders. The board believes, and has been advised, that the Carnival proposal is not as favorable financially to P&O Princess shareholders and would face greater execution risk than the transaction with Royal Caribbean.

11 Jan 2002

Competition for Princess Cruises Heats Up With Arison Entry

Despite the less-than-stellar performance by the cruise industry during the last part of 2001, the industry more than had its fair share of newsmaking events — aside from the September 11 terrorist attacks — which ultimately exposed the fraility of this leisure sector. Beginnning with the demise of Renaissance Cruises almost immediately after the attacks, the industry suffered an additional blow in October when American Classic Voyages’ (AMCV’s) subsidiary U.S. Lines filed Chapter 11 — causing the dream of American cruiseship building to cease before it could even begin. These events, which were almost reminisicent of the faltering cruise industry of the 1970’s…

15 Feb 2001

Cheap Seats Hurt Princess Cruises

Cheaper tickets for Caribbean cruises filled the decks but hit the finances of P&O Princess Cruises Plc last year when profits fell 11 percent. Most of the damage was reported in the fourth quarter, when operating profits fell more than 70 percent to $15.9 million due to high fuel prices, choppy exchange rates and the suspension of cruise calls to ports in Israel because of Middle East violence. And with prices of cruises booked so far through next autumn still lower than last year, trading conditions at the company -- which cast off from British shipping giant P&O last year -- are likely to remain tough in 2001. "We are already fully booked in the first quarter. But when you look further forward, there is still a competitive price situation in the U.S.

09 Aug 2002

P&O to Acquire Former Renaissance Ships

P&O Princess Cruises announced the acquisition of the former Renaissance vessels, R3 and R4, which will join its North American and Australian fleets. The 684 lower berth vessels, which originally entered service in 1999, will be acquired through a lease purchase structure at a total combined capital cost for the two ships of approximately $150 million. Under the terms of the acquisition contracts, the two vessels are contracted to be deployed in the Pacific Ocean region for at least the first two years of their operation by P&O Princess. R4, which will be renamed Tahitian Princess, is expected to continue to be deployed in French Polynesia for a further three years.

12 Feb 2003

Cruise Industry Annual: Sick Ships, Project America and a Merger

2002 will surely not be counted as “a banner year” for many, if any, industries, particularly not for the leisure and travel niche. The cruise industry survived a tough year, as terrorism, a shakey economy and sickness outbreaks onboard ships grabbed headlines. But it is important to note that the industry did survive. Cruise lines were not as profitable as years past, but last year’s challenges present future opporunities. The end of 2002 closed out with a broken merger agreement between P&O Princess and Miami, Fla.-based Royal Caribbean, which, if completed, would have tallied up to a $6 billion operation. Taking the industry surprise in November 2001, the two companies even managed to keep their trade secret from the industry's powerhouse — Carnival Corp.

20 Jun 2001

Phil Kleweno Appointed President Of Princess Cruises

P&O Princess Cruises plc, today announced the appointment of Phil Kleweno as President of its North American division, Princess Cruises. Cruises Group. The division generated $1.8 billion of revenue in 2000. Kleweno joins Princess Cruises from Bain & Company, a global business consultancy, where he was a senior partner. Kleweno has worked with Princess Cruises over the last five years and has been closely involved in both the strategic and operational development of the division during that time. While at Bain, Kleweno also focused on customer-oriented businesses within a number of different sectors including travel and leisure, retail, and media and entertainment.

26 Jul 2001

P&O Cruises Looks To Boost Yield

P&O Princess Cruises, the world's third largest cruise operator, said lower holiday prices would cut revenue yields this year, but added it still hoped to boost earnings by cost cuts and lower tax rates. P&O Princess reported a slight fall in second quarter pre-tax profits to $93.8 million from $95.2 million a year ago, but earnings per share rose seven percent to 12.9 cents. Lower prices led to the fall in pre-tax profits, and P&O Princess Cruises added in a statement that pricing remained "competitive" in its key North American market, which counts for 75 percent of group turnover. The company added it expected overall like-for-like net revenue yields -- a measure of how much money the company makes per passenger -- to fall three percent during the year.