Arisons to Reduce Ownership of Carnival Corporation & plc By Up to 4%
MIAMI, Aug. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE: CCL; LSE)(NYSE: CUK) announced today that members of the Arison family and certain related entities, including a charitable trust organized by members of the Arison family, have advised Carnival Corporation that they plan to sell up to 32 million shares of Carnival Corporation Common Stock over the next two years in market sales, representing up to approximately 4% of the total combined voting rights of Carnival Corporation & plc.
Of the shares planned for sale, up to 17 million shares are held either directly or indirectly by Micky Arison, the company's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. If all the shares covered by the sales plan are sold, the Arison family and related entities will remain beneficial owners of approximately 246 million shares, constituting approximately 31% of the total combined voting rights of Carnival Corporation & plc.
The sellers have advised Carnival Corporation that they are selling for tax planning, estate planning and diversification purposes. The charitable trust is also selling for tax related reasons. In connection with the sales, the sellers are expected to enter into one or more sales plans under Rule 10b5-1. Rule 10b5-1 permits the creation of written plans for buying or selling stock at a time when insiders are not in possession of material non- public information. Once a plan is established, the insider does not retain or exercise any discretion over sales of stock under the plan and the pre- planned trades can be executed at later dates as set forth in the plan, without regard to any subsequent material non-public information that the insider might receive.
Note to Editors:
Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest cruise vacation group in the world, with a portfolio of 13 cruise brands in North America, Europe and Australia, comprised of Carnival Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Costa Cruises, P&O Cruises, Cunard Line, Windstar Cruises, Seabourn Cruise Line, Ocean Village, Swan Hellenic, AIDA, A'ROSA, and P&O Cruises Australia.
Together, these brands operate 70 ships totaling more than 110,800 lower berths with 13 new ships scheduled for delivery between now and mid-2006. Carnival Corporation & plc also operates three riverboats on Europe's Danube River and the leading tour companies in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon, Holland America Tours and Princess Tours. Traded on both the New York and London Stock Exchanges, Carnival Corporation & plc is the only group in the world to be included in both the S&P 500 and the FTSE 100 indices.
SOURCE Carnival Corporation & plc
CONTACT:
Media, Tim Gallagher of Carnival Corporation & plc
+1-305-599-2600, ext. 16000
or
in the UK
Sarah Tovey, or Mark Antelme, both
of Brunswick Group
+44-0-20-7404-5959, for Carnival Corporation
or
Investors
Beth Roberts of Carnival Corporation & plc
+1-305-406-4832
or
Bronwen Griffiths, +44-0-23-8052-5231, for Carnival Corporation
Web site: http://www.carnivalcorp.com
(CCL CUK)
