Princess opens talks with Carnival
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has given the go-ahead to the merger of P&O Princess Cruises with either Carnival Cruises or Royal Caribbean.
It is now up to P&O shareholders to decide whether to opt for Carnival’s hostile bid, or the agreed merger with Royal Caribbean. The European Commission also approved both proposed deals in July.
Before the decision from the FTC, Princess favoured the Royal Caribbean bid, but since the Carnival bid received regulatory approval on Friday, Princess now says it has decided to enter into talks with the Miami-based cruise line. However, Royal Caribbean remains the favourite.
Princess chief executive, Peter Ratcliffe said: “Although we will be talking to Carnival, we continue to believe that the agreed combination with Royal Caribbean will accelerate the creation of value for our shareholders.”
Princess will hold an extraordinary general meeting to reconvene shareholders and discuss the two deals, before November 16, the termination date for the Royal Caribbean agreement.
Read our previous stories:
20-Aug-2002 Princess acquires Renaissance ships
25-July-2002 Profits up at P&O Princess
25-July-2002 Royal Caribbean ‘disappointed’ by EC ruling
23-July-2002 EC set to approve Carnival bid for P&O Princess
18-Feb-2002 Carnival delight at P&O Princess vote delay
12-Feb-2002 Carnival piles pressure on P&O Princess
25-Jan-2002 Carnival gets personal in P&O Princess fight
22-Jan-2002: P&O Princess rejects improved Carnival offer
18-Jan-2002 Carnival increases bid for P&O Princess
15-Jan-2002 Carnival refuses to give up fight for P&O Princess
17-Dec-2001 P&O Princess rejects Carnival offer
20-Nov-2001 P&O Princess and Royal Caribbean Cruises to merge
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