Star Cruises, "The First Global Cruise Line" and "The Leading Cruise Line in Asia-Pacific" announced
Thursday 30 May that it has placed USD80 million worth of Star Cruises Shares through DBS Asia Capital Limited and DBS Vickers Securities (Singapore) Pte Ltd by way of a top up placement to independent placees. The placement price is HK$3.30 per share which represents a 8.33% discount from the closing price on 28th May 2002.
The Proceeds of the Share Placement will be used for fleet expansion and corporate purposes.
"Following a period of consolidation last year and the strong improvement in our business in the first quarter of this year backed by the strong booking trend, we believe that the cruise industry is experiencing an earlier than expected resurgence. This clearly contributed to the encouraging response to the Share Placement despite the recent weakness in the equity markets. We believe that with increased public float from 11.5% to 15.4%, the liquidity of the stock will increase," said Dato' KT Lim, Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer of Star Cruises.
"Further, our expansion into the North China region in the wake of a more open Chinese economy reaffirms our commitment to further develop the cruise industry in China. This has warranted a review of our fleet profile to ensure that the most suitable ships are positioned to meet the different demands of the various regional markets. Towards this, Star Cruises has plans to increase capacity which calls for additional funding", added
Dato' Lim.
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