Former Holland America Line president Orlando Ashford was named Azamara's incoming executive chairman, the "incoming" to be dropped once Royal Caribbean Group closes the sale of the line to Sycamore Partners, the private equity firm that agreed to buy Azamara for $201 million. News editor Johanna Jainchill spoke with Ashford, who also remains a senior advisor with Sycamore, about his role in the acquisition, and why buying a cruise line during the industry's lowest point in history is a smart move.
Orlando Ashford
Q: What was your role in advising Sycamore on this transaction?
A: Sycamore is a very reputable private equity firm, and they were looking for brands and businesses to invest in. I had come off a wonderful experience in the cruise industry, and they asked me to advise as they thought about entering into this industry. We spent a lot of time talking about ships and brands and the changes that were happening in the industry, and we quickly started zeroing in on Azamara as the potential asset that we thought we'd want to be connected to. My job was to give advice about the brand and the kind of things we'd need to think about in order to take an asset like Azamara and prop it up and make it even more successful than it already was, like purchasing another ship to expand capacity right out of the gate.
Q: Why is now a good time to invest in a cruise line, with the industry at a low point?
A: It's the perfect time to invest. You don't want to wait until everything is back and then try to work your way in. These conversations would have been difficult to have a year or two ago when everything was great and perfect. This is a difficult time. But because we believe that this will turn around, it's the perfect time to get involved. Investing in a cruise line is demonstrating our belief in the future. The demand for cruising is there.
A lot of people said to me, "You got out -- weren't you happy to be out?" The cruise industry, like a lot of industries, is going through an unprecedented and painful and difficult time. But I have been and remain very bullish, otherwise I wouldn't have so aggressively gotten back in it. We believe that at the appropriate time, when it's safe, there are millions of people ready and willing to cruise. The intention behind private equity is to identify companies, brands and assets that are very viable and, with the appropriate attention, can grow and flourish. We believe that is absolutely the case with Azamara.
Q: Analysts said Sycamore got a good deal for Azamara. Would you agree?
A: It's not even about the price, it's about the willingness to sell. A year or two ago, when I was at [Holland America], there wasn't a buzz in the industry about anyone selling off any brands. It wasn't an option. This has created an opportunity. We're excited and appreciative of Royal Caribbean to sell its asset to us. We feel it was fair for both sides. We're also excited we're in a position to be able to invest in the brand and put focus on the brand. It will create opportunities for the brand, the employees and the customer. The intention is to put the right investment behind Azamara to allow it to be as successful as possible. ... There's an investment arm behind Azamara now -- at Royal Caribbean they were a smaller brand inside a large company. In this new entity, they are the company. All those ideas that maybe couldn't be done, were underneath someone's desk, those are things that are front and center to discuss as investments.
Q: You have been clear that you will stay out of president Carol Cabezas' way at Azamara. What will your role be?
A: We're just formalizing it. Sycamore has invested in this asset, and there are things that will need to happen to make sure it will perform and grow. So I'll play a role there. At the same time, I come from the cruise industry, so I can bring perspectives in terms of the things that they need and will want to tap into in order to be as successful as possible. We're just getting started. We'll do what we need to do to make sure everyone is happy.