Genting Hong Kong has announced the partial sale of its stake in global cruise line company Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH) for US$270.1 million which it says will be used as “general working capital and capital expenditure for the group and/or to fund new investments of the group should suitable opportunities arise.”
The disposal of 10 million shares, held by wholly-owned subsidiary Star NCLC, represents approximately 2.19% of the total issued and NCLH shares and will see Genting HK’s stake in the company fall from 7.83% to 5.64%.
In a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Genting HK said the sale would net a US$57.4 million gain on disposal “representing the difference between the expected net sale proceeds from the disposal and the carrying value of the Genting disposal shares.” Sale proceeds are payable on Monday 20 November 2017, New York time.
It’s the second time in three months that Genting HK has sold down its stake in NCLH, having offloaded a 3.29% interest in August.
The latest sale caps off a tough year for Genting HK, who booked a loss of US$203.2 million in 1H17 and saw gaming operations at Resorts World Manila shut down for three weeks in June following the lone wolf arson attack that killed 37 people.
