Carnival Corp is pulling unprecedented financial levers in the middle of the night in a fight for its very life against an invisible enemy that has taken the giant to its knees in a matter of weeks.
The world's largest cruise provider with 104 ships announced just shy of midnight Thursday New York time that it issued 62.5m shares at $8 each in an effort to offset billions of dollars in first-quarter losses amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The New York-listed company aired the epic $500m move at about 11:15pm after announcing plans Tuesday to raise at least $6bn in debt and equity on top of $3bn in credit secured Monday.
Spokesman Roger Frizzell declined to comment on the enormous share issue, which boosts Carnival's outstanding share count by almost 12% to more than 590m units.
Carnival also gave underwriters BofA Securities, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs the option to buy up to 9.38m more shares by May.
The Miami-based cruise major also on Wednesday priced previously announced private offerings of $4bn in 11.5% first-priority senior secured notes and $1.75bn in 5.75% senior convertible notes, both due 2023.
It gave first buyers of the notes an option to buy up to $263m more in notes by 18 April.
Carnival has lost billions of dollars in revenue and market value after onboard virus outbreaks and cancelled voyages rocked its first-quarter balance sheet and those of its peers Royal Caribbean Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.
Since January, the "Big Three" cruise providers have seen their share values shrivel while they lowered their combined 2020 earnings forecasts by $555m and took out more than $7bn total in additional credit.
The three companies and privately held MSC Cruises have suspended fleet operations through at least the end of this month in a concerted move that takes 216 cruiseships out of action.
Share values for the "Big Three" continued to fall Tuesday as Carnival's stock plummeted 33% to close at $8.80.
Royal Caribbean's shares slid 20% to $25.77 while Norwegian's stock dropped 13% to $9.55.
