Filing under Rule 425 under
the Securities Act of 1933
and deemed filed under Rule 14d-2
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Filing by: Carnival Corporation
Subject Company: P&O Princess Cruises plc.
SEC File No. of Princess: 001-15136
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO
AUSTRALIA, CANADA OR JAPAN
29 January 2002
CARNIVAL CORPORATION
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ROYAL CARIBBEAN/P&O PRINCESS DEAL REFERRED TO
UK COMPETITION COMMISSION
Carnival notes today's announcement by the UK Secretary of State for Trade and
Industry that the proposed Royal Caribbean/P&O Princess deal has been referred
to the UK Competition Commission. The Competition Commission is due to make its
report by 20 May 2002 although the ultimate decision of the Secretary of State
will not be available until some time after that.
Both the Carnival and Royal Caribbean proposals are conditional on the result of
antitrust reviews in Europe and the US and these reviews will still be
outstanding on 14 February 2002, the date of P&O Princess' EGM. The Secretary of
State's decision does not affect the advice that Carnival has received about the
prospects for clearance of its Offer by the European Commission. Carnival
continues to believe strongly that the interests of P&O Princess Shareholders
are best served by delaying the EGM so that any decision on the merits of the
competing proposals can be made after the results of the antitrust reviews are
known.
Micky Arison, the Chairman and Chief Executive of Carnival, said:
"P&O Princess has claimed that the Royal Caribbean proposal is more deliverable
than Carnival's offer on antitrust grounds. P&O Princess' analysis has proven to
be wrong and today's decision by the Secretary of State makes P&O Princess'
determination not to speak to us totally indefensible.
Carnival has said all along that both transactions are similarly situated from a
regulatory standpoint. The logic for postponing the EGM has been reinforced by
the Secretary of State's decision today. The P&O Princess board's advice to its
shareholders on regulatory issues raises significant questions about its
credibility."
ENQUIRIES:
CARNIVAL Telephone: +1 305 599 2600
Micky Arison
Howard Frank
MERRILL LYNCH Telephone: +44 20 7628 1000
Philip Yates
James Agnew
Stuart Faulkner
UBS WARBURG Telephone: +44 20 7567 8000
Tom Cooper
Alistair Defriez
FINANCIAL DYNAMICS Telephone: +44 20 7831 3113
Nic Bennett
Scott Fulton
Terms used in this announcement have the same meaning as in the Announcement
dated 16 December 2001.
The directors of Carnival accept responsibility for the information contained in
this announcement. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the directors of
Carnival (who have taken all reasonable care to ensure such is the case), the
information contained herein for which they accept responsibility is in
accordance with the facts and does not omit anything likely to affect the import
of such information except that the only responsibility accepted by them for the
information in this announcement relating to P&O Princess and Royal Caribbean
which has been compiled from published sources is to ensure that the information
has been correctly and fairly reproduced and presented.
Merrill Lynch International and UBS Warburg Ltd., a subsidiary of UBS AG, are
acting as joint financial advisors and joint corporate brokers exclusively to
Carnival and no-one else in connection with the Offer and will not be
responsible to anyone other than Carnival for providing the protections afforded
to clients respectively of Merrill Lynch International and UBS Warburg Ltd. as
the case may be or for providing advice in relation to the Offer.
SHAREHOLDER DISCLOSURE OBLIGATIONS
Any person who, alone or acting together with any other person(s) pursuant to an
agreement or understanding (whether formal or informal) to acquire or control
securities of P&O Princess or Carnival, owns or controls, or become the owner or
controller, directly or indirectly of 1 per cent. or more of any class of
securities of P&O Princess or Carnival is generally required under the
provisions of Rule 8 of the City Code to notify the London Stock Exchange and
the Panel of every dealing in such securities during the period from the date of
the Announcement until the first closing date of the Offer or, if later, the
date on which the Offer becomes, or is declared, unconditional as to acceptances
or lapses.
Disclosure should be made on an appropriate form before 12 noon (London time) on
the business day following the date of the dealing transaction. These
disclosures should be sent to the Company Announcements Office of the London
Stock Exchange (fax number: +44 20 7588 6057) and to the Panel (fax number: +44
20 7256 9386).
SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements in this announcement constitute "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Carnival has tried, wherever possible, to identify such statements by using
words such as "anticipate," "assume," "believe," "expect," "intend," "plan" and
words and terms of similar substance in connection with any discussion of future
operating or financial performance. These forward-looking statements, including
those which may impact the forecasting of Carnival's net revenue yields, booking
levels, price, occupancy or business prospects, involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors, which may cause Carnival's actual results,
performances or achievements to be materially different from any future results,
performances or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements. Such factors include, among others, the following: general economic
and business conditions which may impact levels of disposable income of
consumers and the net revenue yields for Carnival's cruise products; consumer
demand for cruises and other vacation options; other vacation industry
competition; effects on consumer demand of armed conflicts, political
instability, terrorism, the availability of air service and adverse media
publicity; increases in cruise industry and vacation industry capacity;
continued availability of attractive port destinations; changes in tax laws and
regulations; Carnival's ability to implement its shipbuilding program and to
continue to expand its business outside the North American market; Carnival's
ability to attract and retain shipboard crew; changes in foreign currency rates,
security expenses, food, fuel, insurance and commodity prices and interest
rates; delivery of new ships on schedule and at the contracted prices; weather
patterns; unscheduled ship repairs and dry-docking; incidents involving cruise
ships; impact of pending or threatened litigation; and changes in laws and
regulations applicable to Carnival.
Carnival cautions the reader that these risks may not be exhaustive. Carnival
operates in a continually changing business environment, and new risks emerge
from time to time. Carnival cannot predict such risks nor can it assess the
impact, if any, of such risks on its business or the extent to which any risk,
or combination of risks may cause actual results to differ from those projected
in any forward-looking statements. Accordingly, forward-looking statements
should not be relied upon as a prediction of actual results. Carnival undertakes
no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
CARNIVAL PLANS TO FILE A REGISTRATION STATEMENT ON FORM S-4 AND A STATEMENT ON
SCHEDULE TO WITH THE US SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION IN CONNECTION WITH
COMMENCEMENT OF THE OFFER. THE FORM S-4 WILL CONTAIN A PROSPECTUS AND OTHER
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE OFFER. CARNIVAL PLANS TO MAIL THE PROSPECTUS CONTAINED
IN THE FORM S-4 TO SHAREHOLDERS OF P&O PRINCESS WHEN THE FORM S-4 IS FILED WITH
THE SEC. THE FORM S-4, THE PROSPECTUS AND THE SCHEDULE TO WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT
INFORMATION ABOUT CARNIVAL, P&O PRINCESS, THE OFFER AND RELATED MATTERS.
INVESTORS AND STOCKHOLDERS SHOULD READ THE FORM S-4, THE PROSPECTUS, THE
SCHEDULE TO AND THE OTHER DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC IN CONNECTION WITH THE
OFFER CAREFULLY BEFORE THEY MAKE ANY DECISION WITH RESPECT TO THE OFFER. THE
FORM S-4, THE PROSPECTUS, THE SCHEDULE TO AND ALL OTHER DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE
SEC IN CONNECTION WITH THE OFFER WILL BE AVAILABLE WHEN FILED FREE OF CHARGE AT
THE SEC'S WEB SITE, AT WWW.SEC.GOV. IN ADDITION, THE PROSPECTUS AND ALL OTHER
DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC IN CONNECTION WITH THE OFFER WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE
TO INVESTORS FREE OF CHARGE BY WRITING TO TIM GALLAGHER AT CARNIVAL CORPORATION,
CARNIVAL PLACE, 3655 N.W. 87 AVENUE, MIAMI, FLORIDA, 33178-2428, US.
IN ADDITION TO THE FORM S-4, PROSPECTUS, THE SCHEDULE TO AND THE OTHER DOCUMENTS
FILED WITH THE SEC IN CONNECTION WITH THE OFFER, CARNIVAL IS OBLIGATED TO FILE
ANNUAL, QUARTERLY AND CURRENT REPORTS, PROXY STATEMENTS AND OTHER INFORMATION
WITH THE SEC. PERSONS MAY READ AND COPY ANY REPORTS, STATEMENTS AND OTHER
INFORMATION FILED WITH THE SEC AT THE SEC'S PUBLIC REFERENCE ROOM AT 450 FIFTH
STREET, N.W., WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549. PLEASE CALL THE SEC AT 1-800-SEC-0330 FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE PUBLIC REFERENCE ROOM. FILINGS WITH THE SEC ALSO ARE
AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC FROM COMMERCIAL DOCUMENT-RETRIEVAL SERVICES AND AT THE
WEB SITE MAINTAINED BY THE SEC AT WWW.SEC.GOV.