Star Cruises' $600 million five-year loan facility is expected to be priced at the tight end of 1% over Libor, having been oversubscribed 50% at the underwriting stage, according to a banking source. The deal is being coordinated by Barclays Capital Asia and HSBC, and seven other banks have been appointed lead arrangers.
The funds raised will be used to refinance a $600 million bridging loan taken out to finance Star Cruises' $1.9 billion acquisition of Norwegian Cruise Lines NCL. Star Cruises had originally planned to acquire NCL through a 6040 joint venture with Carnival Corp, but the latter pulled out of the deal in March, forcing Star Cruises...
