PHOTO: Norwegian Cruise Line's newest ship, the Miami-based Norwegian Getaway. (Courtesy of Norwegian Cruise Line)
Norwegian Cruise Holdings Ltd.'s pending acquisition of Prestige Cruise Holdings, parent of Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Oceania Cruises, is expected to close in mid-November.
Norwegian CEO Kevin Sheehan said in a conference call said the teams are "working diligently" on combining the two organizations. The $3.025 billion acquisition has received anti-trust clearance.
Sheehan also outlined the executive team for the merged company. He will remain president and CEO of the parent company, Norwegian Cruise Holdings while Drew Madsen, the new president and COO of Norwegian Cruise Line, will run that company on a daily basis. Oceania Founder Frank Del Rio will continue on as CEO of Oceania and Regent Seven Seas, while Kunal Kamlani will continue running the day-to-day business of both those lines as president and COO. Jason Montague, the current CFO of Prestige, will oversee the integration on a full-time basis.
The acquisition will result in more than the estimated $25 million in savings through synergies, Sheehan said.
He provided the update during a call with financial analysts about third-quarter earnings. The company reported a 29.1 percent increase in adjusted EPS to $1.11, on adjusted net income of $232.2 million. That compares to 86 cents and $182.2 million in the same period in 2013.
Sheehan said Norwegian's adjusted EBITDA has grown at a compound annual rate of 23 percent in the past six years. "We are confident that we will achieve our target of over 60 percent growth in full year adjusted EPS that we established at the beginning of the year," he said in a press release. "This achievement will once again demonstrate our resilience and ability to deliver consistent financial performance despite the external headwinds that occurred throughout the year."
During the call, Sheehan also addressed the Ebola concerns. "The entire industry through CLIA has set protocols with respect to Ebola across our fleets and also as part of embarkation process," he said. "We have seen an impact on the margin over the last several weeks, however, booking levels have moved back to pre-news levels over the past couple of days. Barring any additional sense of sensationalism by the news media or a major outbreak, we anticipate this will be old news going forward."
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