Friday, May 12, 2000
P&O
acquires Festival
 Continuing
its expansion in the European cruise market, P&O is acquiring
Festival Cruises. In the deal are Festival's existing four ship
fleet--including the Mistral, pictured here--two newbuildings
under construction at Chantiers de l'Atlantique and Festival's
European sales and marketing network of subsidiaries in 10 countries.
With 350 million people, Europe's potential
leisure market is larger than that of the United States and Canada
combined. In spite of double-digit growth in recent years, cruising
has only reached 0.8% of the annual European vacation market
so far.
Commenting on the announcement, P&O
Chairman Lord Sterling said: "Following our recent investments
in Aida and Seetours, this is a further key strategic move in
consolidating our position as the leading European cruise company
and reinforces our standing as the most international of the
major cruise lines. Festival is a dynamic business with a strong
brand name and reputation. By combining these strengths with
those of the P&O group, we have an excellent platform from
which to take full advantage of the strongly growing European
cruise market."
Festival will be developed as an independent
brand under the guidance of its established management team,
headed by chairman and CEO George Poulides.
P&O will pay for Festival with a mixture
of cash and shares. "With particularly strong profits, this
would have a value of up to $400 million," says P&O.
The shares will be in the new cruise company that will be created
later this year by the spin-off of P&O's cruises division.
Festival Cruises will continue to operate
and market the four cruise ships Azur, Bolero, Flamenco and Mistral.
The 1,200 berth French-flag Mistral was named in June 1999 at
a ceremony attended by France's Prime Minister Lionel Jospin
and was the first modern cruise ship specifically designed and
built for the pan-European market.
Festival's next two ships, each with 1,566
lower berths, are the European Vision and European Dream, scheduled
for delivery from Chantiers de l'Atlantique in France in June
2001 and April 2002. They will have the same design philosophy
as Mistral.
Besides the existing newbuilding program,
P&O and Festival say they are keen to embark on a wider expansion
of the Festival brand in the near future so as to keep pace with
rapidly growing European demand for cruises in the Mediterranean
and other leading destinations.
Trico
sells liftboats to Superior
Trico Marine Services, Inc. has sold its six liftboats to Superior
Energy Services, Inc. of Harvey, Louisiana, for $14 million in
cash.
"Trico's liftboats were obtained in
1993 in connection with another acquisition and have been operated
by a third party since that time,'' said Trico president and
CEO Thomas E. Fairley. "While these specialized vessels
perform an important service in the work associated with offshore
platform repair and maintenance and well servicing, they have
not been part of Trico's core business or its growth strategy.''
The liftboats, which range in leg length
from 130 feet to 170 feet, will increase Superior's fleet from
42 to 48, including 30 liftboats in the its rental fleet and
18 in its wireline fleet - more than any other liftboat operator
worldwide.
"We are extremely pleased to add these
liftboats to our rental fleet, particularly at a time when dayrates
and utilization are trending up from first quarter levels,''
said Terry Hall, Superior's president and CEO. "Liftboats
are an integral part of our strategy to offer a full suite of
complementary production-related services
and are the gateway to our well and wireline service offerings.
Because they can be used as work platforms, equipment staging
areas and crew quarters, the
company's liftboats can be bundled with our other services or
can be leased to third parties to support a variety of offshore
projects.''
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