Players in a Likely Crystal Cruises Acquisition

With Crystal Cruises suspending operations through April with owner Genting Hong Kong warning of cash troubles, there is no shortage of speculation of what will happen to one of the key luxury brands in the industry.

According to sources familiar with the situation, Crystal is drawing interest for its brand name, past passenger list of wealthy American clients, its new 200-guest expedition ship and fleet of river ships. Less interesting, according to sources, are the company’s larger ocean-going ships.

Catching up with industry sources, Cruise Industry News put together a list of possible suitors and scenarios.

Potential Players:

• Genting: Could Genting reorganize using bankruptcy protection and continue to operate Crystal? The company could emerge stronger with reduced debt loads, new money and a fresh outlook if a reorganization takes place.
• Lindblad: Lindblad Expeditions and Genting have already been at the negotiating table as Lindblad bought the Crystal Esprit in 2021. Lindblad has been active in the acquisition space, also having bought up complementary companies in recent years. While Crystal’s big ocean-going luxury ships don’t fit the Lindblad product, the river ships, new Endeavor and passenger list could be ideal.
• MSC: MV Werften and a 75 per cent-finished 5,000-gest Global Dream could present an interesting opportunity for fast-growing MSC Cruises. The family-owned company is known to make quick decisions and wants to dominate the cruise industry. Could a shipyard and newbuild designed-for-China give them a platform to accelerate future growth even more? It could prove tempting. The Endeavor would also allow the company to enter the expedition market overnight.
• Carnival/Royal/Norwegian: Could one of the three major players acquire Crystal into their portfolio of brands? It would prevent potential new competition. However, chances are the answer is no, as all three would see significant pushback from the investment community, which is focused on short term financial performance.
• Azamara/Sycamore: After buying Azamara Cruises from Royal Caribbean Group in early 2021, Sycamore Partners, a private equity company, added the fourth ship with the acquisition of the Pacific Princess. It’s no secret in the industry circle they have been looking for more. A new parent company could operate both brands, with a lean shoreside organization, and vessel management from V. Ships Leisure, which is already running the Azamara fleet. It would allow Sycamore to add to its ocean-going capacity while entering the expedition and river markets.
• Ponant: Another small cruise line that has been quickly growing is Ponant. With well-financed French owners, the boutique luxury operator has acquired both Travel Dynamics and Paul Gauguin and introduced a fleet of new ships for the Ponant brand.
• National Investment Fund: It’s not a matter of if, but when, as it relates to a major public investment fund from a Middle Eastern country buying majority control of a cruise line.
• Hotel Chain: The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection and Margaritaville enter the cruise industry in 2022. For hotel chains with a fear of missing out, this may be a key opportunity to get into the business.
• New Money: The pandemic has brought new private equity money, hedge funds and new investors into the cruise industry. According to sources, there are still multiple deep-pocketed investors waiting for the right time to buy-in.
• River Operator: The Crystal river ships are said to be drawing interest from a number of existing European river operators.

Hays Travel to acquire entire Thomas Cook retail estate

Hays Travel to acquire entire Thomas Cook retail estate

The agreement will see Hays Travel acquire a total of 555 stores around the UK, providing re-employment opportunities for up to 2,500 former staff who were made redundant following the collapse of the travel giant on September 23.

More than 100 new jobs will be based at the company’s Sunderland headquarters with the rest in shops across the UK.

Hays Travel has already recruited 421 former Thomas Cook staff and has further offered outstanding to former employees.

The deal will take Hays’ shop network to 745.

Hays signed a deal with the Official Receiver and liquidators KPMG today.

Earlier on Wednesday, it was understood Barrhead Travel, Midcounties Co-operative, Millington Travel, Polka Dot Travel and Miles Morgan Travel were also among retailers to have lodged bids with the liquidators of Thomas Cook for its former stores.

Chair Irene Hays said:  “Thomas Cook was a much-loved brand and a pillar of the UK and the global travel industry.   We will build on the good things Thomas Cook had – not least its people – and that will put us in even better stead for the future.

“We all share a passion for the travel industry and we want to continue to build the company’s reputation for the first-class service and being a great place to work and develop a career.”

Managing director John Hays said: “Our staff were devastated to hear about Thomas Cook and we all immediately felt we wanted to help.

“In the last two weeks we have already employed or offered jobs to around 600 former Thomas Cook colleagues, and it has been a very emotional experience for them.  Now that we are able to re-open the shops, we are looking forward to welcoming many more people who share our passion for the travel industry, into our family business.

“I’m very proud of the fantastic team who have helped me build Hays Travel over almost 40 years and they have worked tirelessly over the last couple of weeks to bring this about.  It is a game-changer for us, almost trebling the number of shops we have and doubling our workforce – and for the industry, which will get to keep some of its most talented people.”

David Chapman, official receiver, said: “I am pleased to announce we have reached an agreement with Hays Travel to acquire Thomas Cook’s entire UK retail estate, comprising 555 stores across the country. This represents an important step in the liquidation process, as we seek to realise the company’s assets.”

Jim Tucker, partner at KPMG and joint special manager of Thomas Cook’s retail division, said: “This is an extremely positive outcome, and we are delighted to have secured this agreement. It provides re-employment opportunities for a significant number of former Thomas Cook employees and secures the future of retail sites up and down the UK high street. We are pleased to have achieved this in a short time frame and in the context of a complex liquidation process, which is a testament to a lot of hard work from a number of parties.

“Over the weeks ahead, we will work closely with Hays Travel and landlords to ensure a smooth transition of the store estate.”

Hays has been operating for 40 years and reached sales of more than £1bn in 2018.

The team supporting Hays in the deal included lawyers Muckle LLP, financial advisers White Hart Associates and property consultants Identity Consult.

The union representing Thomas Cook retail staff welcomed the deal and said it is seeking an “urgent meeting with Hays”.

TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes said: “We have been clear from the start that Thomas Cook was a strong brand and that it was likely parts of the business would be able to move forward as a going concern.

“Throughout the industry, the talent, commitment and skills of our members working for Thomas Cook was well known and I have no doubt they will bring the same dedication to Hays.”

Damen to Buy Keppel Verolme Shipyard at Port of Rotterdam

Keppel Verolme shipyard. Photo: Keppel

Damen Shipyards Group has entered into an agreement with Keppel Offshore & Marine for the acquisition of the Keppel Verolme shipyard in the Rotterdam.

With the acquisition of the Verolme shipyard, Damen continues to strengthen its repair and conversion activities within the regional ship repair and conversion market.

The Verolme yard has been active in the Botlek area of the Port of Rotterdam since 1957, and the yard now comprises three graving docks, a quay capacity of over 1,800 meters, and approximately 250 employees. The acquisition of the yard will boost Damen’s dry dock capacity with the addition of the Verolme yard’s largest dry dock, which measures 90 by 405. The dry dock will be Damen’s largest in the Netherlands. 

Damen says it intends to continue to operated the Verolme yard with its current workforce.

“With the Verolme yard, Damen will have four large repair yards within close proximity of the Port of Rotterdam. The two yards in Rotterdam, along with Damen’s yards in Vlissingen and Amsterdam, will closely cooperate to maximise the use of each other’s expertise, further developing synergy advantages and jointly marketing their capacity, with the objective to offer more efficient and competitive services,” Damen said in a press release.

Genting Completes Acquisition of Crystal; Announces Promotions

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Genting Hong Kong (GHK) today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Crystal Cruises from Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK), for a total transaction of US$550 million. GHK also announced a new Chairman of Crystal and promotions for Crystal’s current senior management team.

Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, executive chairman of the Genting Group and the former chairman of Norwegian Cruise Line, assumes the position of chairman of Crystal, replacing Nobuyoshi Kuzuya who will return to NYK in a key executive position. Edie Rodriguez, a 34-year travel industry veteran who was previously president and COO will be promoted to president and CEO. Thomas Mazloum, a 20-plus year veteran of Crystal’s management team who was previously executive vice-president will be promoted to COO.

Established in 1993, GHK is part of the Genting Group, a global hospitality and leisure company with business in over 20 countries, including the United States in New York, Florida and Nevada. GHK wholly owns Star Cruises and is a major shareholder of Norwegian Cruise Line. GHK is a public company primarily listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and secondarily on the Singapore Stock Exchange.

Crystal launched service with the Crystal Harmony in 1990, with sister ships Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity joining the fleet in 1995 and 2003, respectively. Since the Harmony’s sale in 2005, the line has operated global itineraries with the two remaining ships.