Ambassadors International acquired Nishida
Tekko America Corp., the parent of Bellingham Marine Industries, a
designer, manufacturer and builder of dock facilities.
Although
Ambassadors has been making its biggest splash lately with its new
cruise division, the company does not expect to realize any
synergies between its cruise division and its latest acquisition,
according to Ambassadors president and CEO, Joe
Ueberroth.
We have three
distinct divisions: travel events, marine and cruise, Ueberroth
said. When we acquired Bellingham Marine, it wasnt due to synergies
with the cruise business. We think it does have strategic value,
however, to our marine segment. We want to service marinas, and
this gives us capabilities on a worldwide basis that we didnt have
previously.
He added that most
of Bellinghams growth will come from investing in new
markets.
Ambassadors also
owns Bellport Shipyard and Marinas of Newport Beach, Calif.,
another marine supply company.
Ambassadors expects
the acquisition to contribute $85 million annual revenue and $6.5
million in pretax income, Ueberroth said. Ambassadors paid $7
million and retired a debt of $6 million to purchase Nishida Tekko
America Corp. The transaction was completed July 21.
Ambassadors
second-quarter 2006 results were slightly better than expected,
Ueberroth said, in spite of sustaining a $3 million blow when its
ship the Empress of the North was grounded in March on a sandbar on
the Columbia River.
If that had not
occurred, our operating income would have been in excess of $4
million, Ueberroth said. As it turned out, the operating income was
$1.58 million, up from $834,000 in the same period in
2005.
With the purchase
of American West Steamboat Cruises in December and the Delta Queen
Steamboat Co. in April, Ambassadors established a cruise division,
created a nationwide river cruise operation and became the markets
dominant player.
According to
Ueberroth, Our outlook for 2006 is significantly improved by the
performance of the cruise segment. Our original projection for the
cruise segment was $3.1 million of pretax income.
However, he said we
now expect the cruise segment will contribute $78 million in
revenue and pretax income of approximately $8 million.
To contact
reporter David Cogswell, send e-mail to [email protected].