Canival Purchases 100% of Costa

Carnival Corporation has reached an agreement to purchase the outstanding balance (50%) of Costa from Uk based AirTours for approximately $525 Million USD.

Look for Carnival Corp to move along at a more rapid pace with Costa's newbuilding and corporate acquisition plan now that they have acquired sole ownership.

Tim Rubacky
Consumer Affairs Editor

[Donna]

Hi Tim,
Thanks for the update, heard something about it yesterday, but wasn't sure.
Figured you'd have the scoop :-)

Donnassei/Sealover

[Paul Motter]

I was on the Carnival Victory when this announcement came out. Mickey Arison and Bob Dickinson gave a press conference. They were every happy about this acwuisition, and so were the Costa people. It seems the Carnival people believe Europe is a very high potential market with less competition and price gouging. By the way, they are all very excitied about the Spirit class of vessels, too, of whicvh the Costa Atlantica is the first.

They like the fact that there are so many balcony cabins, and that the flow of the ship is a lot better because all the public rooms are moved to the lower decks. It is a nice ship, I will attest to that.