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COVID-19

Carnival Cruise Line seeks to borrow $3 billion

Carnival Cruise ships are docked at the Port of Tampa on Thursday, March 26, 2020, in Tampa, Fla. (Chris O'Meara / AP)
Bloomberg

Cruise line operator Carnival Corp. is turning to all corners of the capital markets to raise $6 billion of cash after the COVID-19 pandemic halted travel, bringing its business to a near standstill.

The company is tapping bond investors on both sides of the Atlantic with a $3 billion sale of secured notes in U.S. dollars and euros, according to people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because the details are private. The new notes will be secured by a first-priority claim on the company’s assets and mature in three years, the people said.

Carnival said it also plans to raise $1.25 billion by issuing common shares and another $1.75 billion through the sale of convertible notes to improve its liquidity position.

President Donald Trump asked Carnival and other major cruise line operators to stop sailing this month after a series of coronavirus outbreaks at sea raised concerns about the safety of the industry. The companies, which have large fixed costs, are now bracing for the possibility of having to go months without customers.

While Carnival is still rated investment grade by Moody’s Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings, its existing unsecured bonds have been trading at distressed levels in recent weeks. The new secured debt sale is being managed by banks’ high-yield syndicate desks, the people said.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Bank of America Corp. are managing the bond sale, which is expected to be completed on Wednesday.

Carnival had been in discussions with banks to raise as much as $7 billion through equity and debt to shore up its finances, Bloomberg previously reported.