Carnival Corporation & plc Announces Pricing of $2.4 Billion 4.0% First-Priority Senior Secured Notes Offering to Refinance a Portion of its Existing 11.5% Notes and Extend Maturities
Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK) has priced its private offering of $2,405.5 million in first-priority senior secured notes due 2028, with an interest rate of 4.000%. The offering is expected to close on July 26, 2021. Proceeds will be used to fund a tender offer for up to $2,004,000,000 of its 11.500% notes due 2023, resulting in $135 million annual interest savings. The notes are secured by first-priority liens and guaranteed by Carnival plc and subsidiaries. This offering is not registered under U.S. securities laws.
- Savings of $135 million annually from reduced interest payments.
- Secured by first-priority liens on substantial assets.
- Refinancing to extend maturities raises concerns about existing debt levels.
MIAMI, July 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK) today announced that Carnival Corporation (the "Issuer") has priced its private offering of
The New Notes will pay interest semi-annually on February 1 and August 1 of each year, beginning on February 1, 2022, at a rate of
The New Notes will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed, jointly and severally, by Carnival plc and certain of the Issuer's and Carnival plc's subsidiaries that own or operate our vessels and material intellectual property and that guarantee the Issuer's existing first-priority secured indebtedness and second-priority secured indebtedness. Additionally, the New Notes and the related guarantees will be secured by a first-priority lien on the collateral, which includes, without limitation, pledges on the capital stock of each subsidiary guarantor, mortgages on a substantial majority of the vessels and related vessel collateral, material intellectual property and pledges over other vessel-related assets including inventory, trade receivables, computer software and casino equipment.
The New Notes are being offered only to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers in reliance on Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and outside the United States, only to non-U.S. investors pursuant to Regulation S under the Securities Act.
The New Notes will not be registered under the Securities Act or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable state laws.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the New Notes or any other securities and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. This press release shall not constitute an offer to purchase or the solicitation of an offer to sell the 2023 Notes, and it is not a solicitation of consents with respect to the 2023 Notes. PJT Partners LP is serving as independent financial advisor to the Issuer and Carnival plc.
Forward Looking Statements
Some of the statements, estimates or projections contained in this press release are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions with respect to us, including some statements concerning the financing transactions described herein, future results, operations, outlooks, plans, goals, reputation, cash flows, liquidity and other events which have not yet occurred. These statements are intended to qualify for the safe harbors from liability provided by Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements other than statements of historical facts are statements that could be deemed forward-looking. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about our business and the industry in which we operate and the beliefs and assumptions of our management. We have tried, whenever possible, to identify these statements by using words like "will," "may," "could," "should," "would," "believe," "depends," "expect," "goal," "anticipate," "forecast," "project," "future," "intend," "plan," "estimate," "target," "indicate," "outlook" and similar expressions of future intent or the negative of such terms.
Forward-looking statements include those statements that relate to our outlook and financial position including, but not limited to, statements regarding:
• Pricing | • Goodwill, ship and trademark fair values |
• Booking levels | • Liquidity and credit ratings |
• Occupancy | • Adjusted earnings per share |
• Interest, tax and fuel expenses • Currency exchange rates • Estimates of ship depreciable lives and residual values | • Return to guest cruise operations • Impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus global pandemic on our financial condition and results of operations |
Because forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, there are many factors that could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. This note contains important cautionary statements of the known factors that we consider could materially affect the accuracy of our forward-looking statements and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial position. Additionally, many of these risks and uncertainties are currently amplified by and will continue to be amplified by, or in the future may be amplified by, the COVID-19 outbreak. It is not possible to predict or identify all such risks. There may be additional risks that we consider immaterial or which are unknown. These factors include, but are not limited to, the following:
- COVID-19 has had, and is expected to continue to have, a significant impact on our financial condition and operations, which impacts our ability to obtain acceptable financing to fund resulting reductions in cash from operations. The current, and uncertain future, impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, including its effect on the ability or desire of people to travel (including on cruises), is expected to continue to impact our results, operations, outlooks, plans, goals, reputation, litigation, cash flows, liquidity, and stock price;
- As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, we may be out of compliance with one or more maintenance covenants in certain of our debt facilities, with the next testing date of November 30, 2022;
- World events impacting the ability or desire of people to travel have and may continue to lead to a decline in demand for cruises;
- Incidents concerning our ships, guests or the cruise vacation industry as well as adverse weather conditions and other natural disasters have in the past and may, in the future, impact the satisfaction of our guests and crew and lead to reputational damage;
- Changes in and non-compliance with laws and regulations under which we operate, such as those relating to health, environment, safety and security, data privacy and protection, anti-corruption, economic sanctions, trade protection and tax have in the past and may, in the future, lead to litigation, enforcement actions, fines, penalties, and reputational damage;
- Breaches in data security and lapses in data privacy as well as disruptions and other damages to our principal offices, information technology operations and system networks, including the recent ransomware incidents, and failure to keep pace with developments in technology may adversely impact our business operations, the satisfaction of our guests and crew and may lead to reputational damage;
- Ability to recruit, develop and retain qualified shipboard personnel who live away from home for extended periods of time may adversely impact our business operations, guest services and satisfaction;
- Increases in fuel prices, changes in the types of fuel consumed and availability of fuel supply may adversely impact our scheduled itineraries and costs;
- Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates may adversely impact our financial results;
- Overcapacity and competition in the cruise and land-based vacation industry may lead to a decline in our cruise sales, pricing and destination options;
- Inability to implement our shipbuilding programs and ship repairs, maintenance and refurbishments may adversely impact our business operations and the satisfaction of our guests; and
- the risk factors included in Carnival Corporation's and Carnival plc's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on January 26, 2021 and Carnival Corporation's and Carnival plc's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on April 7, 2021 and June 28, 2021.
The ordering of the risk factors set forth above is not intended to reflect our indication of priority or likelihood.
Forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as a prediction of actual results. Subject to any continuing obligations under applicable law or any relevant stock exchange rules, we expressly disclaim any obligation to disseminate, after the date of this document, any updates or revisions to any such forward-looking statements to reflect any change in expectations or events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based.
Carnival Corporation & plc
Carnival Corporation & plc is one of the world's largest leisure travel companies with a portfolio of nine of the world's leading cruise lines sailing to all seven continents. With operations in North America, Australia, Europe and Asia, its portfolio features Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, P&O Cruises (Australia), Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises, P&O Cruises (UK) and Cunard.
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