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Royal Caribbean Selling Azamara Brand

Orator

By Orator,
in Celebrity Cruises

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EvoUSA

EvoUSA

Posted
Posted (edited)

I do wonder how Sycamore (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sycamore_Partners) is actually planning to run Azamara. They primarily own retailers and related brands, notably clothing-related and Staples.

 

Other than the fact that they're consumer-facing non-staple businesses, I don't really see the similarity to their existing businesses.

Edited by EvoUSA
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EvoUSA

EvoUSA

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

Does RCG report financials for specific brands? I've never seen anything other than speculation. Hard to definitely say what the true driving factor was without that info on hand. 

 

The press release did say "[t]he sale of Azamara is not expected to have a material impact on Royal Caribbean Group's future financial results" which suggests there wasn't a significant net profit (or loss) from the line.

@Bruin Stevementioned this in the other Azamara sale thread, but it's also unclear what debt/liabilities Sycamore is assuming on the sale.

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ECCruise

ECCruise

Posted
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9 minutes ago, TeaBag said:

We're on the same cruise as Jelayne, our fourth try at seeing Petra.  Now what?  This is very disappointing news.

Same here.  But we are not doing anything until we get a clearer picture of how things are going to be in the future.  We have 2 Azamara sailings this year (July and November with air, apartments, rental cars, etc. booked) and sticking with those as well.  Plus, we aren't going to cancel, pay the cancellation fees, then find out that things are just fine and prices have increased.  

We are going to be patient and see how things shake out.

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Damcruiser

Damcruiser

Posted
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35 minutes ago, Baron Barracuda said:

That might be a net number.  Some debt may have transferred ships.  No mention in press release or SEC filing, 

"The transaction will result in a one-time, non-cash impairment charge of approximately $170 million. "

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Host Jazzbeau Great Review Rare

Host Jazzbeau

Posted
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42 minutes ago, Damcruiser said:

"The transaction will result in a one-time, non-cash impairment charge of approximately $170 million. "

That is the difference between the book value of the ships and the cash they are getting for them:

"Azamara’s sale will result in a noncash impairment charge of about $170 million, which reflects the difference between the three ships’ book value and the sale price, Royal Caribbean said." – Wall Street Journal

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ChucktownSteve

ChucktownSteve

Posted
Posted
55 minutes ago, EvoUSA said:

I do wonder how Sycamore (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sycamore_Partners) is actually planning to run Azamara. They primarily own retailers and related brands, notably clothing-related and Staples.

 

Other than the fact that they're consumer-facing non-staple businesses, I don't really see the similarity to their existing businesses.

 

You think they'll be increasing the Azamara apparel in the gift shop?

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TeaBag

TeaBag

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Posted
2 hours ago, ECCruise said:

Same here.  But we are not doing anything until we get a clearer picture of how things are going to be in the future.  We have 2 Azamara sailings this year (July and November with air, apartments, rental cars, etc. booked) and sticking with those as well.  Plus, we aren't going to cancel, pay the cancellation fees, then find out that things are just fine and prices have increased.  

We are going to be patient and see how things shake out.

Same here.  I will eagerly await your posts after you have sailed in July. 

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Charles4515

Charles4515

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, EvoUSA said:

I do wonder how Sycamore (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sycamore_Partners) is actually planning to run Azamara. They primarily own retailers and related brands, notably clothing-related and Staples.

 

Other than the fact that they're consumer-facing non-staple businesses, I don't really see the similarity to their existing businesses.

 

I would guess they plan to flip it eventually. 

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Jeremiah1212

Jeremiah1212

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, EvoUSA said:

 

The press release did say "[t]he sale of Azamara is not expected to have a material impact on Royal Caribbean Group's future financial results" which suggests there wasn't a significant net profit (or loss) from the line.

@Bruin Stevementioned this in the other Azamara sale thread, but it's also unclear what debt/liabilities Sycamore is assuming on the sale.

 

With Silversea on hand and the changes to the Celebrity product -  even with acceptable financials, I'm sure from an efficiency standpoint it didn't make sense to maintain a separate brand with a tiny 3 ship fleet. 

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LGW59

LGW59

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, terrydtx said:

Good Riddance, they were sucking cash from the other brands to stay afloat.  They were never able to compete with Oceania and Viking Ocean in the in-between mass marketed Cruise  and true luxury lines market.

Never sailed on but did look, their ships looked kind of fuddy duddy to me, would not be my cup of tea as it were.  Celebrity is luxury to me, especially the E class and the refurbs to the others.  

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hcat "Live from...." Rare

hcat

Posted
Posted

Looks like Cruise  Choices will continue to shrink. Sad....Didnt their CEO bail out already?

 

We never tried Az..The ship size  and age did not appeal to us but it  did seem more like the orig Celeb experience..small  upscale cruise club.

 

Hope folks get to finish out their bookings

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jelayne

jelayne

Posted
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20 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Agree.  A bit surprised at $200M.  Not much more than scrap value and how many millions in deposits will move with Azamara?  

Hopefully our deposit will remain with RCG long enough to be processed as we cancelled today.  

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TeaBag

TeaBag

Posted
Posted
41 minutes ago, jelayne said:

Hopefully our deposit will remain with RCG long enough to be processed as we cancelled today.  

Do you think the transfer is imminent?  I thought it was to come into effect end of first quarter?  Or did I read the word "end" in there and it could be any time?

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jelayne

jelayne

Posted
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1 hour ago, TeaBag said:

Do you think the transfer is imminent?  I thought it was to come into effect end of first quarter?  Or did I read the word "end" in there and it could be any time?

I’m sure they will try and complete it as soon as possible.  But the end of the 3rd quarter is only 9 weeks away.  Cruising won’t restart before the sale is complete even it it is at the very end of the quarter.  So it would be a few months, at best, after cruising starts before we begin to know the impact the change of ownership will have on the cruise experience.  We booked this cruise for the itinerary not for the “Azamara experience” with all the uncertainties we will take our money back while we can. 

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markeb Great Review Rare

markeb

Posted
Posted

Looking at some of their history on Wikipedia, I really don’t think they keep Azamara for very long. This almost looks like a third part liquidation, if that ultimately makes financial sense to Sycamore. Sell the name if it has value, dump the ships, and consolidate and sell any value to the operational pieces it sounds like they’ve acquired. I doubt they want to become a cruise company...

 

Could be wrong, but if not, sorry...

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TeeRick

TeeRick

Posted
Posted (edited)

Story is pretty straight forward.  Why keep Azamara and its old ships when RCG has spent hundreds of millions not only buying Silversea Cruises but also launching several new build ships (Silver Moon, Silver Muse, Silver Dawn)?

https://www.silversea.com/other-resources/press-releases/2021/January/new-ship-silver-dawn-floats-out-in-ancona.html

 

https://www.marinelink.com/news/silver-dawn-floated-fincantieris-ancona-484553

Edited by TeeRick
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