VV Receives Fresh Injection of $550M For Expansion

[CruisingWalter]

Looks like things are full speed ahead for Virgin as they just took in a fresh round of investment led by Blackrock with additional funds from Bain and Virgin Group.

 

"Virgin Voyages closed on $550m in new capital, led by BlackRock and including new financing and additional capital from existing investors Bain Capital Private Equity and Virgin Group.The line said it also received additional unspecified 'support' from existing lenders."

 

Full Article:

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/finance/virgin-voyages-gets-550m-fresh-capital-led-blackrock-bain-virgin-group?fbclid=IwAR0fRBN3JvJaxR0lTzElQvdEGV-I5s7qIkexx2F3BzCBW8nIPsfoXyB4ZwU

[_tacocat_]

yeah - some guy on FB swore he was "in the know" and that his friend at NCL told him that they were looking to buy VV.  red flags galore with that, as that would be a "shipload" of MNPI for some rando to be posting on FB.  glad he was wrong!

 

i see this infusion as a good sign, as both partners re-upped vs. just recapitalizing the deal.  another article i read also said that the blackrock investment was on behalf of multiple funds.

[CruisingWalter]

On 8/16/2022 at 4:56 PM, _tacocat_ said:

yeah - some guy on FB swore he was "in the know" and that his friend at NCL told him that they were looking to buy VV.  red flags galore with that, as that would be a "shipload" of MNPI for some rando to be posting on FB.  glad he was wrong!

 

i see this infusion as a good sign, as both partners re-upped vs. just recapitalizing the deal.  another article i read also said that the blackrock investment was on behalf of multiple funds.

 

No, NCL is not buying VV right now, though I would not be surprised that is the end game in 5-10 years, to cash out by selling the company to someone else. If they build up to be a formidable player in the adult-only cruising market, they would be an attractive bolt-on cruise line for someone else.

 

It's an excellent sign for the brand and I'm very happy to hear that business is picking up. Looks like it is picking up all over from the sound of things now that the policies are being relaxed more. 

[cantgetin]

I've also seen articles on how the VV model is unsustainable, they are going to be bought out, etc.  I honestly don't believe that is realistic any time soon.  While it is true that they can't go on indefinitely with cruises less than 50% full, they are in a unique position....they had barely launched in March 2020 when the pandemic shut them down.  As I understand it, there had been a few publicity/press events, but no sailings with paid guests.  Based on that, they've really only been in business for a year.  Unlike other lines, they didn't have a bunch of loyal cruisers just waiting to return.  They planned to launch one ship per year, and were suddenly launching 3 in one year (one now delayed)

 

They are definitely doing things differently--no last minute "fire sales" just to get people on board as many lines do.  Yes, they do offer some good specials if their deals happen to meet your needs, but you won't see any totally ridiculous prices.  Slight, but not huge reductions for not selecting your own cabin.  They have recently started selling upgrades at the terminal; I don't know whether this means that complimentary upgrades have disappeared.  Their initial round of advertising was poorly aimed at a younger crowd than they are actually attracting; more recent ads have changed considerably.

How long will they give this experiment?  As long as there are large investors willing to buy them more time, there's no reason to shut down.  Only time will tell if it is a long term success. There are only a few lines in the "adult only" market.  Hopefully they'll do well.

[AdoraBelle]

I've only recently jumped back into reading anything about cruising. I was supposed to be on the Scarlet Lady beta sailings when the pandemic started, didn't book another cruise till Aug 2021, then canceled when delta deaths started spiking and it became apparent that being quarantined in an inside cabin in Alaska was a real possibility. 

Anyway, all this to say: I've noticed a lot more people are mentioning VV on reddit these days. 

[Fogcityca13]

21 hours ago, AdoraBelle said:

I've only recently jumped back into reading anything about cruising. I was supposed to be on the Scarlet Lady beta sailings when the pandemic started, didn't book another cruise till Aug 2021, then canceled when delta deaths started spiking and it became apparent that being quarantined in an inside cabin in Alaska was a real possibility. 

Anyway, all this to say: I've noticed a lot more people are mentioning VV on reddit these days. 

There’s even a subreddit for VirginVoyages.