18th Feb 2005 14:15
Certain Arison Family Trusts to Reduce Ownership of Carnival Corporation & plcby Up to 2%MIAMI, Feb. 18, Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE: CCL; LSE)(NYSE: CUK)announced today that certain trusts whose beneficiaries are members of theArison family have advised Carnival Corporation that they plan to sell up to 17million shares of Carnival Corporation common stock over a period of up to twoyears in market sales, representing up to approximately 2% of the totalcombined voting rights of Carnival Corporation & plc.Of the shares planned for sale, none are held by Micky Arison, the company'sChairman and Chief Executive Officer, or by any trusts or other entity of whichMr. Arison is a beneficiary. If all the shares covered by the sales plans andpreviously announced sales plans are sold, the Arison family and relatedentities will remain beneficial owners of approximately 230 million shares,constituting approximately 28.6% of the total combined voting rights ofCarnival Corporation & plc.The sellers have advised Carnival Corporation that they are selling for taxplanning and diversification purposes. In connection with the sales, thesellers 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 stockat a time when insiders are not in possession of material non-publicinformation. Once a plan is established, the insider does not retain orexercise any discretion over sales of stock under the plan and the pre-plannedtrades can be executed at later dates as set forth in the plan, without regardto any subsequent material non-public information that the insider mightreceive.Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest cruise vacation group in the world,with a portfolio of 12 cruise brands in North America, Europe and Australia,comprised of Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises,Seabourn Cruise Line, Windstar Cruises, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, CunardLine, Ocean Village, P&O Cruises, Swan Hellenic, and P&O Cruises Australia.Together, these brands operate 77 ships totaling more than 132,000 lower berthswith 13 new ships scheduled for delivery between April 2005 and April 2009.Carnival Corporation & plc also operates the leading tour companies in Alaskaand the Canadian Yukon, Holland America Tours and Princess Tours. Traded onboth the New York and London Stock Exchanges, Carnival Corporation & plc is theonly group in the world to be included in both the S&P 500 and the FTSE 100indices.Additional information is available online at http://www.carnivalcorp.com andhttp://www.carnivalplc.com .CONTACT: Media, in U.S., Tim Gallagher of Carnival Corporation & plc,+1-305-599-2600, ext. 16000, or in U.K., Sarah Tovey of Brunswick Group,44-20-7404-5959, for Carnival Corporation & plc; or Investor Relations in U.S.and U.K., Beth Roberts of Carnival Corporation & plc, +1-305-406-4832.ENDRelated Shares:
Carnival