Parent of Oceania and Regent files for $250M IPO

By Tom Stieghorst

Prestige Cruise International Inc., a holding company that controls Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Oceania Cruises, has filed a registration statement with the Securities & Exchange Commission to sell up to $250 million in stock to the public.

The company, now known as Prestige Cruise Holdings, is controlled by private equity fund Apollo Global Management. Apollo also controls Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, which went public in early 2013.

Prior to the offering, Apollo owns 59% of Prestige, the filing says.

Financial data in the filing shows that Prestige had revenue of $1.17 billion in the 12 months ended Sept. 30 and net income of $18.7 million.

It also shows the company reported net losses in 2010, 2011 and 2012 of $62.1 million, $69.7 million and $2.6 million, respectively.

The balance sheet shows long-term debt of $1.6 billion on Sept. 30.

The filing lists occupancy for the 12 months ended Sept. 30 at 94%, with a net per diem of $400 and net yield of $376.

In the prospectus, Prestige said it has more than 300,000 households in its loyalty program, and that past guests accounted for 41% of its passengers in the nine months ended Sept. 30.

Prestige said that its sales effort through travel agents is complemented by other programs, including an outbound call center in Miami with 34 sales agents focused on optimizing leads created by other marketing programs.

The filing says Prestige CEO Frank Del Rio’s base salary was $1.6 million in 2013 and will rise to $1.75 million this year.

Prestige Cruise said it intends to use proceeds from the stock offering to pay down debt.