who owns azamara cruise ship

Royal Caribbean Group sells off Azamara cruise line in order to focus on its core brands

Royal Caribbean Group is selling its Azamara cruise line to Sycamore Partners, a private equity firm specializing in consumer, retail and distribution investments.The deal will be "an all-cash carve-out transaction" for $201 million, subject to certain adjustments and closing conditions.

Sycamore Partners will acquire the entire Azamara brand, including its three-ship fleet and associated intellectual property. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021. No information has been given on how the sale affects cruises that have already been booked on Azamara Quest, Azamara Journey and Azamara Pursuit.

The move will allow RCG to focus on expanding its Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea brands, the line said in a statement.

"Our strategy has evolved into placing more of our resources behind three global brands, Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea, and working to grow them as we emerge from this unprecedented period," said Richard D. Fain, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Royal Caribbean Group.

"Even so, Azamara remains a strong brand with its own tremendous potential for growth, and Sycamore's track record demonstrates that they will be good stewards of what the Azamara team has built over the past 13 years.

"We are pleased that Royal Caribbean Group has entrusted Sycamore to support Azamara in its next phase of growth," said Stefan Kaluzny, Managing Director of Sycamore Partners. "We are excited to partner with the Azamara team and build on their many years of success serving the brand's loyal customers. We believe Azamara will remain a top choice for discerning travelers as the cruising industry recovers over time."

The founder and CEO of Azamara – and, in many ways the face of the line, Larry Pimental – left in April last year. A few month earlier, it had dropped the word "Cruises" from its name in a bid to rebrand as more of a land-based operation which also offered cruises.

Though small, with just three ships, it had a very loyal following and active Cruise Critic Boards members. People loved the small ships, all of them former Renaissance vessels affectionately known as R-class ships, as well as the line's focus on destinations.

One, Chucktown Steve, spoke for many when he wrote: "What does private-equity firm Sycamore Partners know about cruising and what the customers want? Equity firms only want one thing. Profits at any cost. There goes Azamara. I wonder how many of the great staff will jump ship, literally?"

Royal Caribbean Group said it would work in close collaboration on a "seamless transition" for Azamara employees, customers and other stakeholders.In conjunction with the transaction, Azamara Chief Operating Officer Carol Cabezas has been appointed president of the brand.

The transaction will result in a one-time, non-cash impairment charge of approximately $170 million. The sale of Azamara is not expected to have a material impact on Royal Caribbean Group's future financial results, the line stated.

Royal Caribbean has sold its Azamara brand including 4 ships for $201 million as the company continues to push back 2021 sail dates

• Royal Caribbean has sold its Azamara cruise line brand to Sycamore Partners for $201 million.
• The Azamara deal is the latest shakeup in a list of cruise industry disruptions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories .

Royal Caribbean has sold its Azamara cruise line for $201 million while cruises in the US remain docked during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company announced Friday.

Sycamore Partners , the private equity firm purchasing Azamara in cash, now owns the cruising brand and its fleet of four ships, including one that was just acquired . Carol Cabezas, Azamara's COO, will serve as president of the cruise line, according to a press release from January when the agreement was first announced .

"Azamara remains a strong brand with its own tremendous potential for growth," Richard Fain, chairman and CEO of the Royal Caribbean Group, said in a statement in January.

Read more:  COVID-19 has created a once-in-a-lifetime crisis for Carnival and Royal Caribbean, but after surviving hijackings and shipwrecks, the industry looks unsinkable

The ownership change also results in a $170 million non-cash impairment charge. According to Royal Caribbean , this Azamara sale won't "materially impact" the cruise company's financial outcomes.

Unsurprisingly, recent months haven't exactly been smooth sailing for Royal Caribbean. In December, Royal Caribbean announced it had sold its Empress and Majesty of the Seas cruise ships. Just several months prior, the cruise company reported it had lost $1.3 billion in its third quarter, the Miami Herald reported .

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This Azamara announcement and Royal Caribbean's difficulties are only some of the shakeups in the long list of cruise industry disruptions that have happened in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. From stranded crew members to refund issues to a " wasted year ," things have been looking a bit bleak for cruise companies around the world .

However, according to Royal Caribbean , this latest deal will allow the mega cruise company to "focus on expanding" its Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, and Silversea Cruises brands.

Read more:  Carnival and Royal Caribbean salaries revealed: From $32,000 to $383,000, here's how much the cruise industry's power players pay some of their employees

The sail date for these cruise lines , and other cruises around the US, still remain to be seen as the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage on.

Are you a cruise industry employee or have a cruise industry story to share? Contact this reporter at [email protected].

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Pacific princess to join azamara fleet in 2022.

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The New York-based equity firm, which last week inked a definitive agreement to acquire the Azamara brand from Royal Caribbean Group by the end of Q1 2021 ,  has emerged as the buyer of Princess Cruises’ Pacific Princess.

Pacific Princess is a former R-class ship, comparable in size to the three sister ships in Azamara’s current fleet. The ship sailed more than 1.6 million nautical miles and 11 World Cruises since joining Princess Cruises’ in 2002.

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“The addition of this ship is an important milestone and reflects Sycamore Partners’ commitment to supporting Azamara in its next phase of growth,” Stefan Kaluzny, Managing Director of Sycamore Partners, said.

“Expanding the fleet will allow Azamara to continue to serve loyal customers, as well as those new to the brand, with more unique Destination Immersion programming and itineraries.”

The additional ship, which will be named at a later date, is comparable in size to Azamara Pursuit , Azamara Journey and Azamara Quest , expanding the fleet’s overall capacity by 33%.

Together, the four ships will support Azamara’s commitment to enrich immersion around the world.

“We are thrilled to be expanding our fleet with a fourth ship, allowing us to visit even more regions of the world and better serve our guests,” said Carol Cabezas, President of Azamara.

“We look forward to launching even more unique and immersive itineraries and feel this is just the beginning of an exciting growth phase for Azamara.”

Carol Cabezas, President of Azamara confirms fourth ship acquisition

Prior to launch, Pacific Princess will undergo an extensive refurbishment to match its sister ships and Azamara’s upmarket position, as well as offer unique onboard elements. These updates will be similar to the renovations introduced most recently on Azamara Pursuit , bringing guests the experience of a boutique hotel at sea.

Details about the new ship’s deployment and itineraries will be made available at a later date.

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Press Releases

Royal caribbean group completes the sale of its azamara brand to sycamore partners.

MIAMI – March 19, 2021 – Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE: RCL) (the Group) today announced it completed the sale of its Azamara brand to Sycamore Partners, a private equity firm specializing in consumer, retail and distribution investments, in an all-cash transaction for $201 million. The sale included Azamara’s three-ship fleet and associated intellectual property.

This strategic deal allows the Group to focus on expanding its Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises brands.

“This creates huge opportunities for all parties,” said Richard D. Fain, Chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group. “In fact, as we are inking this deal today, Azamara already has added a fourth ship to their fleet. I am confident that the brand’s success and growth trajectory will continue under the stewardship of Sycamore.”

“We look forward to guiding and supporting Azamara in its next phase of growth,” said Stefan Kaluzny, Managing Director of Sycamore Partners. “The brand’s high guest engagement, personalized service and unique Destination Immersion® strategy, position it strongly for continued growth in the upmarket space.”

Perella Weinberg Partners LP served as financial advisor to Royal Caribbean Group and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP provided legal counsel. Kirkland & Ellis LLP provided legal advice to Sycamore Partners.

For Royal Caribbean Group:

Media contact: Jonathon Fishman

Email:  [email protected]

Investor Relations contact: Carola Mengolini

Email: [email protected]

For Azamara:

Hue & Cry

[email protected]

For Sycamore Partners:

Michael Freitag or Arielle Rothstein

Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher

(212) 355-4449

About Royal Caribbean Group

Royal Caribbean Group is the operating business name for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Royal Caribbean Group is the owner and operator of three global cruise vacation brands: Royal Caribbean International , Celebrity Cruises , and Silversea Cruises.  Royal Caribbean Group is also a 50% owner of a joint venture that operates TUI Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. Together, our brands operate 58 ships with an additional 15 on order as of March 15, 2021.  Learn more at www.royalcaribbeangroup.com or www.rclinvestor.com .

About Azamara

Azamara is an upmarket cruise line and the leader in Destination Immersion® experiences, presently with three mid-sized ships sailing to all seven continents of the world, with an additional fourth ship scheduled to join the fleet in 2022. The boutique-style ships allow them to reach marquee ports around the world and dock in smaller, less-visited hidden gems. Azamara’s commitment to creating immersive experiences for travelers to connect with local cultures allows guests to travel deeper with longer stays, more overnights, and night touring.  Guests can experience a boutique hotel at sea with inclusive amenities such as gratuities, beverages, cultural events and more. For more information on Azamara and future sailings, visit www.azamara.com .

About Sycamore Partners

Sycamore Partners is a private equity firm based in New York. The firm specializes in consumer, distribution and retail-related investments and partners with management teams to improve the operating profitability and strategic value of their business. With approximately $10 billion in aggregate committed capital raised since its inception in 2011, Sycamore Partners' investors include leading endowments, financial institutions, family offices, pension plans and sovereign wealth funds. For more information on Sycamore Partners, visit www.sycamorepartners.com.

Cautionary statement concerning forward-looking statements

Certain statements in this release relating to, among other things, our future performance estimates, forecasts and projections constitute forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  These statements include, but are not limited to statements regarding revenues, costs and financial results for 2020 and beyond.  Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “driving,” “estimate,” “expect,” “goal,” “intend,” “look into,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “will,” “would,” “considering”, and similar expressions are intended to help identify forward-looking statements.  Forward-looking statements reflect management’s current expectations, are based on judgments, are inherently uncertain and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied in those forward-looking statements.  Examples of these risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to the following: the impact of the global incidence and spread of COVID-19, which has led to the temporary suspension of our operations and has had and will continue to have a material adverse impact on our business, liquidity and results of operations, or other contagious illnesses on economic conditions and the travel industry in general and the financial position and operating results of our Company in particular, such as: the current and potential additional governmental and self-imposed travel restrictions, the current and potential extension of the suspension of cruises and new additional suspensions, guest cancellations; our ability to obtain sufficient financing, capital or revenues to satisfy liquidity needs, capital expenditures, debt repayments and other financing needs; the effectiveness of the actions we have taken to improve and address our liquidity needs; the impact of the economic and geopolitical environment on key aspects of our business, such as the demand for cruises, passenger spending, and operating costs; incidents or adverse publicity concerning our ships, port facilities, land destinations and/or passengers or the cruise vacation industry in general; our ability to accurately estimate our monthly cash burn rate during the suspension of our operations; concerns over safety, health and security of guests and crew; any protocols we adopt across our fleet relating to COVID-19, such as those recommended by the Healthy Sail Panel, may be costly and less effective than we expect in reducing the risk of infection and spread of COVID-19 on our cruise ships; further impairments of our goodwill, long-lived assets, equity investments and notes receivable; an inability to source our crew or our provisions and supplies from certain places; the incurrence of COVID-19 and other contagious diseases on our ships and an increase in concern about the risk of illness on our ships or when traveling to or from our ships, all of which reduces demand; unavailability of ports of call; growing anti-tourism sentiments and environmental concerns; changes in US foreign travel policy; the uncertainties of conducting business internationally and expanding into new markets and new ventures; our ability to recruit, develop and retain high quality personnel; changes in operating and financing costs; our indebtedness, any additional indebtedness we may incur and restrictions in the agreements governing our indebtedness that limit our flexibility in operating our business, including the significant portion of assets that are collateral under these agreements; the impact of foreign currency exchange rates, interest rate and fuel price fluctuations; the settlement of conversions of our convertible notes, if any, in shares of our common stock or a combination of cash and shares of our common stock, which may result in substantial dilution for our existing shareholders; our expectation that we will not declare or pay dividends on our common stock for the near future; vacation industry competition and changes in industry capacity and overcapacity; the risks and costs associated with protecting our systems and maintaining integrity and security of our business information, as well as personal data of our guests, employees and others; the impact of new or changing legislation and regulations or governmental orders on our business; pending or threatened litigation, investigations and enforcement actions; the effects of weather, natural disasters and seasonality on our business; emergency ship repairs, including the related lost revenue; the impact of issues at shipyards, including ship delivery delays, ship cancellations or ship construction cost increases; shipyard unavailability; the unavailability or cost of air service; and uncertainties of a foreign legal system as we are not incorporated in the United States.

In addition, many of these risks and uncertainties are currently heightened by and will continue to be heightened by, or in the future may be heightened by, the COVID-19 pandemic. It is not possible to predict or identify all such risks.

More information about factors that could affect our operating results is included under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our most recent  annual report  on Form 10-K and quarterly report on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained by visiting our  Investor Relations  website at  www.rclinvestor.com  or the SEC’s website at  www.sec.gov . Forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as a prediction of actual results. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements in this release, which are based on information available to us on the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

New Azamara boss to fans: Don't worry, the line won't change

Don't worry, Azamara fans: The line's new owners aren't planning any radical changes to the Azamara cruising experience you know and love.

That's the word this week from Azamara's new president, Carol Cabezas, who spoke with TPG in an exclusive interview following the news that Royal Caribbean Group is selling the upscale cruise brand to a private equity firm, Sycamore Partners.

"They really love what we do, and they've said that they want us to continue doing what we do," Cabezas told TPG this week. "They just want to invest to grow it."

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Cabezas said the three-ship line's "destination immersion" focus with lots of long stays in ports, including overnight stays, will remain — as will the line's focus on onboard service. And the crew Azamara fans have come to love won't go anywhere, either.

Indeed, while the ownership of the brand will be changing within weeks (the buyout deal is expected to close by the end of March), the change shouldn't be noticeable to customers who are booking or sailing on voyages, she said.

"Their reservations, any sorts of promotions, cruise credits, their loyalty program -- all of that remains intact," she added. "And we want to make sure everybody understands that."

Related: How to plan a cruise with points and miles

Where Sycamore will have a big influence in the coming years is in the line's growth, Cabezas suggested. And that's already become evident. On Monday, Sycamore announced it would expand Azamara's passenger capacity by 33% over the coming year with the addition of a fourth vessel.

Sycamore said it was buying the 672-passenger Pacific Princess from Princess Cruises to add to the Azamara brand.

"This is a great opportunity," Cabezas said of the purchase. "Princess felt like this was the right time to sell this beautiful vessel and … [we] wanted to jump on the opportunity of the ship being available. It just made a lot of sense."

Related: Why Azamara is growing its fleet even as other lines cut back

Built in 1999, the 30,277-ton Pacific Princess is a relative outlier in the Princess fleet. But it'll fit perfectly in Azamara's fleet. It's a sister vessel to Azamara's three ships — Azamara Journey, Azamara Quest and Azamara Pursuit.

Cabezas said the purchase of Pacific Princess for Azamara was a sign of Sycamore's confidence in the brand's future and its commitment to growing the brand.

"Sycamore is … really making it obvious that they believe in what we're doing here by, in less than a week, announcing that we're adding a fourth vessel," she said. "I think that speaks volumes [about] what's to come. Right out of the gate, [they're] saying, 'We believe in the product and guess what, here's the start of that growth.'"

Royal Caribbean Group founded Azamara in 2007 as a small, upscale brand that would complement its bigger, more mainstream Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises brands. But it never invested much money in expanding the line.

Azamara initially launched with two vessels, and Royal Caribbean only added one more vessel to the line's fleet over its 13-year history.

Related: The ultimate guide to Royal Caribbean

One of Azamara's biggest competitors in the upscale ocean cruising space, Oceania Cruises , has more than doubled in size with three new ships over the same period.

Another major competitor, Viking , has added six new ocean vessels since 2015 and has another half a dozen on order.

Cabezas suggested that Sycamore saw the potential for Azamara to be a bigger player in the industry.

"They specialize in identifying brands that have a recognition, a loyal following, and a [unique selling proposition], and that's why they selected Azamara," she said. "They're coming in from the outside, looking at the forest and not within the trees, which sometimes we might do. And they're saying there is opportunity in the long term."

With the addition of a fourth vessel, Cabezas said the Azamara brand could expand its lineup of itineraries and the number of destinations it serves.

"There are things that we cannot do today because we don't have enough capacity in the fleet," she said. With an extra ship, Azamara "might be able to do more country-intensive types of voyages, and there are certain areas where, with only three ships, we haven't had the opportunity to go."

All three current Azamara ships and the new one coming from Princess Cruises originally were built for Renaissance Cruises, a cruise line that ceased operations in 2001. They were part of an eight-ship series built between 1998 and 2001 known as the R Class.

The other four R Class ships are now part of the Oceania Cruises fleet and sail under the names Insignia, Regatta, Nautica and Sirena.

Azamara will rename Pacific Princess after it takes control of the vessel, but Cabezas didn't say what the new name would be. The ship originally sailed as the R Three for Renaissance. It was renamed Pacific Princess in 2002 after joining the Princess fleet.

The ship won't start sailing for Azamara until 2022, with initial sailings in Europe , she said.

Like all other major cruise lines in the world, Azamara stopped departures worldwide in March 2020 as the novel coronavirus swept the globe. It hasn't operated a single voyage since. But, it's hoping to restart operations in the coming months. The line has canceled all sailings through the end of April but still has voyages on the books for May and beyond.

Unlike many lines, Azamara hasn't shed any of its ships during the industrywide shutdown. Princess Cruises, by contrast, has shed five of the 17 ships that were in its fleet at the start of 2020. Other major brands that have downsized by removing ships include Carnival Cruise Line and Holland America, which both eliminated four vessels from their fleets. Royal Caribbean has cut two ships from its roster.

Sycamore Partners is a private equity firm based in New York. The firm specializes in consumer, distribution and retail-related investments and partners with management teams to "improve the operating profitability and strategic value of their business," according to a company overview.

Cabezas was elevated to president of Azamara at the same time the buyout of the brand was announced. She previously served as chief operating officer.

On Wednesday, Sycamore announced it had hired former Holland America president Orlando Ashford to serve as executive chairman of the brand.

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