Star To Raise Funds Via Shares Issue

Malaysia's Star Cruises said it was seeking to issue 200 million new shares to finance its acquisition of the Norwegian shipping group NCL Holding ASA. The issue of new shares, pending approval from Star's shareholders, represented 32 percent of the company's existing share capital, it said. Star had also arranged a five-year medium loan of $600 million, which would also go to financing the NCL acquisition and Star's future expansions, it said. The new issues may be in the form of new ordinary shares of Star Cruises or equity-linked securities and would be issued over a period of time, the company said.