A&K Travel Group, a world luxury travel brand helmed by the former chairman of Silversea Cruises, has officially announced the acquisition of Crystal Cruises, a cruise brand in Genting Hong Kong, and two ocean-going mail ships owned by Crystal Cruises.
Previously, Crystal Cruises' Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony were auctioned off in the Bahamas, with Crystal Schönning selling for $103 million and Crystal Symphony for $25 million. However, the identity of the buyer has never been disclosed.
On June 23, A&K confirmed its acquisition of the two cruise ships and the Crystal Cruises brand. A&K said the Crystal Suning and Crystal Heyun will be completely refurbished and expected to return to the market in 2023 and will still operate under the Crystal Cruises brand. A&K Travel Group will partner with V.Ships Leisure, a leading global cruise management company based in Monaco. V.Ships Leisure is the perfect choice for its unique experience, global scale and passionate team.
A&K Travel Group Ltd is understood to be jointly owned by Heritage Group, managed by Former Silversea Cruises Chairman Manfredi Lefebvre d'Ovidio, as well as Geoffrey Kent. Manfredi Lefebvre acquired a full stake in Abercrombie & Kent (A&K) held by Zhonghong Holdings in 2019, thereby owning 85% of Abercrombie & Kent, with the remaining 15% held by founder Geoffrey Kent.
Manfredi Lefebvre is an Italian-born Monaco billionaire. His father, Antonio Lefebvre d'Ovidio, founded the ultra-luxury cruise brand Silversea Cruises in 1994, while Manfredi Lefebvre himself became Chairman of Silversea Cruises in 2001 and remained the sole shareholder of Silversea Cruises for some time thereafter. Until June 2018, Manfredi Lefebvre sold two-thirds of Silversea Cruises' stake to Royal Caribbean for $1 billion, keeping only one-third. In July 2020, Royal Caribbean exchanged another 5.2 million shares in Silversea Cruise Holding, a company owned by Manfredi Lefebvre.
As early as the beginning of this year, Manfredi Lefebvre confirmed his intention to acquire Crystal Cruises and has made two requests for a wholly-owned acquisition of Crystal Cruises, the first of which was made in the first quarter of 2021 and the other after Genting Hong Kong applied for liquidation.
Currently, Manfredi Lefebvre and Geoffrey Kent will serve as co-chairs of Crystal Cruises, and Crystal Cruises and Abercrombie & Kent will be directly led by A&K Travel Group CEO Cristina Levis, who was former general manager of Silversea Cruises. Cristina Levis said: "Returning to luxury cruises after five years has mixed feelings for me. It's a great honor to be able to serve these two incredible brands, who have disrupted tourism many times over the past few decades. Manfredi, Geoffrey and I look forward to welcoming past-visiting Crystal Cruises and Abercrombie & Kent customers and new guests seeking luxury on board. ”
It is understood that Crystal Cruises, headquartered in Miami, USA, is a well-known cruise line, originally founded by Nippon Mail in 1988. In the past few decades, Crystal Cruises has been highly praised by condé Nast Traveler, the authoritative travel magazine in the United States, and as of 2013, Crystal Cruises has been named "the best cruise company in luxury medium-sized cruise ships" a total of 20 times, and has won this title for 7 consecutive years. As of 2014, Crystal Cruises has been voted "Best Large Cruise Company" by Travel + Leisure magazine readers for 19 consecutive years.
After Genting Hong Kong filed for liquidation earlier this year, Crystal Cruises also closed its U.S. offices and laid off employees, and filed an "assignment for the benefit of creditors" (ABC) in a local florida court, an alternative to bankruptcy. Crystal Cruises' fleet is taken over by the bank that holds the mortgage, which is not a Crystal Cruises, but a bareboat charter vessel.
According to the International Ship Network, the "Crystal Shangning" and the "Crystal Heyun" are the two largest ocean-going cruise ships in the Crystal Cruise fleet. The Crystal Shangning was built in 2003 at a cost of $350 million and carried 1,040 passengers; the Crystal Harmony was built in 1995 with a cost of $250 million and a capacity of 904 passengers. In February, after completing their final voyages, the Crystal Shanning and Crystal Heyun were seized by creditors in the Freeport of the Bahamas.
In addition to the "Crystal Shangning" and the "Crystal Rhyme", Crystal Cruises' polar exploration mail ship "Crystal Endeavour" has also attracted market attention. The vessel has been docked in Gibraltar waters since late March, awaiting sale, and recent news that Royal Caribbean-owned Silversay Cruises will acquire Crystal Endeavour, though Silversea Cruises declined to confirm the report.
Just delivered last year, the 164.5-metre-long, 23.4-metre-wide, 20,000-tonne displacement and 200 passengers is the world's first PC6 polar-class yacht dedicated to polar travel and the most luxurious, largest and most spacious polar expedition-class cruiser ever built to cruise through the thick ice of the polar regions in summer and autumn.