Royal Caribbean Cruises International has sought to raise additional funds as it prepares to return to operations later in the year. The company – which also controls the Celebrity Cruises, Azamara and Silversea brands – earlier outlined plans to raise US$3.2 billion through a bond offering.
The cash raised would be used to pay down existing debt, including a US$2.35 billion 364-day senior secured term loan with Morgan Stanley. Any other money would be used to pay other outstanding debts, the line said in filings.
Royal Caribbean said 28 of its ships and “material intellectual property” would be used as collateral on the new bonds. However, the line did not specify which ships it had pledged for its debt offering. It had vessels with a net book value of about us$23 billion as of December 31st. The company earlier said it expects to report a preliminary first-quarter net loss of US$1.44 billion.
The figure compares to a profit of US$250 million for the same period last year. Preliminary total revenue for the three months ended March 31st fell 17 per cent, to US$2 billion, against the same period last year.
