Virgin
Group strongly denied that it misappropriated the idea and business plan for
its own cruise line, Virgin Cruises, from former Norwegian Cruise Line CEO
Colin Veitch.
In a
lawsuit filed March 11 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of
Florida, Veitch contends that he came to Virgin and its founder Richard Branson
with a fully-formed plan and an investment bank for financing the plan.
The suit said Virgin Cruises essentially executes the plan and uses the
same investment bank.
Veitch
alleges in the lawsuit that after securing an agreement with a shipyard
to build two ships, and arranging a management team and financing, he was cut
out of a lucrative share of the potential profits from the venture.
In a
statement, Virgin said it "strongly believes the claim has no merits.
"Richard Branson and the Virgin
Group first looked at the cruise market in the late 1970s, and our current team
has been exploring the opportunity for more than a decade. Over the years, we
have been in discussions with a number of parties including the plaintiff, and
those discussions ceased in 2012,” the statement said.