NCL
Corp. closed the $1 billion cash investment deal with private
equity group Apollo Management on Jan. 7, giving Apollo 50%
ownership of the cruise company.
NCL said that the
financial infusion would strengthen its balance sheet and enable
the company to make significant investments in a number of key
areas.
"With the Apollo
investment, NCL is now in the strongest financial condition we have
ever enjoyed in our 41-year history," NCL Corp. CEO Colin Veitch
said in a statement.
Apollo now shares
ownership of NCL with Malaysia-based Star Cruises, NCL's previous
sole shareholder. Apollo will name the majority of the NCL board of
directors with certain consent rights retained by Star.
The acquisition
closes Apollo's second cruise investment in the past year,
following its purchase of Oceania Cruises in March. The firm
recently announced its plan to buy Regent Seven Seas from Carlson
Cos.
Since announcing the
investment last September, NCL has launched a product enhancement
program, called Freestyle 2.0, and a strategy to bolster its
relationship with travel agents, called Partnership 2.0.
In an interview last
week, Veitch said the travel agent response to those initiatives
was overwhelmingly positive.
"Not only did they
think it was a significant series of improvements, but they also
believed that we could deliver it," he said.
NCL has also added
two executive positions to its management team and increased its
investment in consumer marketing; a new series of television ads
launched nationwide last week.
Veitch said the
investment had increased the energy level at NCL. "Everybody
throughout the company is focused on executing against a quite
ambitious plan we have for 2008," he said.
To
contact reporter Johanna Jainchill, send e-mail to [email protected].