Carnival cruises into pole position in P&O bid race
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Your support makes all the difference.Carnival, the US cruise operator, moved into pole position to win the £2.5bn bid battle for P&O Princess, its UK-based rival, after US regulators approved bids by Carnival and a third group, Royal Caribbean.
The move is a volte-face for P&O, which had originally said it was planning to merge with Royal Caribbean.
It shunned a hostile offer by Carnival, which it dismissed as a spoiling tactic to try and stop its original deal.
P&O's chief executive, Peter Ratcliffe, has all along argued that the approach by Carnival, the world's largest cruise operator, would fall foul of the regulators.
But Carnival first gained the backing of European regulators and late on Friday was given the all-clear by the US Federal Trade Commission, which also approved the Royal Caribbean rival bid in a tight three-to-two verdict.
Mr Ratcliffe said he now felt that a deal with the Miami-based Carnival, which could maintain a dual listing in the UK and US, would be the best deal for P&O shareholders.
The Carnival side said it was willing to talk and felt that some sort of agreement could be reached that would maintain the dual listing.
The battle for P&O has gone on for more than a year. Its original deal with Royal Caribbean stoked shareholder anger because of expensive break clauses that could have cost P&O as much as £320m if the Royal Caribbean deal was ditched.
But because of the length of time it has taken the regulators to decide, these break clauses are unlikely to be so expensive.
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