Royal Caribbean Cruises chairman and chief executive Richard Fain has said he is “surprised” and “disappointed” by the EC’s clearance of Carnival’s hostile takeover bid for P&O Princess Cruises.
The company said it was particularly concerned by the “abrupt change” in the Commission’s findings. It had earlier seemed certain to either stop the Carnival bid or only allow it to go through with major disposals.
Mr Fain said: “Earlier analyses and widely mooted decisions were abruptly reversed behind closed doors. The concerns of Royal Caribbean and many other third parties over the Carnival bid have been set aside.”
He added: “Such procedural short-cuts have sadly diminished the openness and transparency that all parties rely upon in circumstances such as these.”
Royal Caribbean said it remains committed to a deal with P&O Princess. The US regulators will decide on both proposed mergers in September. If they clear both bids, it will be up to shareholders to say which of the two proposals they prefer.
Meanwhile Royal Caribbean Cruises has announced Q2 revenues of $821.8 million, essentially unchanged from the same period last year. However yields were down. Royal Caribbean said this was partly due to a big drop in the number of guests booking air travel through the company – down from 26.7% in Q2 2001 to 14.5% for the same period this year.
See our previous stories:
25-Jul-2002: Profits up at P&O Princess
23-Jul-2002: EC set to approve Carnival bid for P&O Princess
