Ambassadors International, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMIE) has announced that Windstar Cruises’yachts are sailing as scheduled and all Windstar fares and reservations, including charter contracts, are being honored. At a hearing April 5, 2011, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District ofDelaware granted permission for Windstar and Ambassadors, among other things, to:
Maintain all of Windstar’s customer programs and policies and honor all Windstar fares and reservations, including charter contracts;
Provide commissions and payments to travel partners as usual; and
Pay employees and crewmembers in the usual manner and to continue their benefits without disruption.
The approval of these requests by Ambassadors helps ensure that Windstar will continue normal operations as it moves forward through the previously announced process of selling Windstar and substantially all of Ambassadors’ other assets, the company said in a press release. Ambassadors continues to expect that all Windstar vendors and suppliers for goods and services received both before and during the reorganization process will be paid in connection with the sale.
The Court also granted interim approval of the company’s debtor-in-possession financing (DIP) facility. The court’s approval authorizes Ambassadors and Windstar to access $5 million of new working capital financing on an interim basis, which can be used to help support Ambassadors’ and Windstar’s continuing operations and will provide liquidity during the sale process. A hearing for final approval of the DIP financing facility and access to the full $10 million of new financing thereunder has been scheduled for April 26, 2011.
On April 1, 2011, Ambassadors announced an agreement to sell substantially all of its assets, including Windstar, to Whippoorwill Associates, Inc., as agent for its discretionary funds and accounts Whippoorwill intends to maintain Windstar’s business and operations and invest in Windstar’s growth following completion of the anticipated sale. In addition, the financing facility that received interim Court approval is being provided to Windstar and Ambassadors by Whippoorwill.
Ambassadors also announced that it received notification from the Nasdaq Stock Market on April 4, 2011, indicating that the staff of the Nasdaq Stock Market has determined, in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rules 5101, 5110(b) and IM-5101-1, that Ambassadors’ common stock will be delisted from the Nasdaq Stock Market in light of, among other things, Ambassadors’ announcement that it filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. The notification states that Nasdaq trading in Ambassadors’ common stock will be suspended at the opening of business on April 13, 2011, and Nasdaq will request that the Securities and Exchange Commission remove Ambassadors’ securities from listing and registration on the Nasdaq Stock Market, unless Ambassadors requests an appeal of the delisting decision. Ambassadors does not intend to appeal Nasdaq’s delisting decision, and therefore it is expected that the common stock will be delisted.
