Genting Hong Kong, Apollo, TPG to sell 6.58% of Norwegian Cruise Line

[HONG KONG] Cruise operator Genting Hong Kong Ltd said it, Apollo Funds and TPG Fund have agreed to sell an aggregate 6.58 per cent of shares in Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd with market value of US$428 million to third party investors.

Of the 15 million Norwegian Cruise Line shares to be offered for sale, Genting's unit Star NCLC will sell 7.5 million shares, or 3.29 per cent of the cruise line, the Hong Kong listed firm said in a filing to the Hong Kong bourse late on Sunday.

Net proceeds from the sale of the 15 million shares after expenses will amount to US$409.1 million, the statement said.

Genting said the proceeds from its portion of the share sale will be used as general working capital and to fund new investments, while its indirect stake in the Norwegian Cruise Line will be reduced to 7.84 per cent from 11.13 per cent.

Trading in Genting Hong Kong shares, which were suspended on Friday, will resume on Monday.

Genting had said in July that it expected a bigger net loss in the first half of 2017 due to a competitive environment and higher marketing costs.

REUTERS