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Royal still courts Princess
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January 18, 2002: 3:51 p.m. ET
Cruise line says rival Carnival tries to stall merger with P&O Princess.
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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. reiterated its commitment Friday to its $7.4 billion merger with P&O Princess as rival Carnival Corp. tries to break up the transaction.
Miami-based Royal Caribbean said it was surprised Carnival Corp. chose not to address key concerns raised about an earlier pre-conditional proposal.
Carnival (CCL: down $0.43 to $26.03, Research, Estimates), also of Miami, on Thursday boosted its hostile bid by 12 percent to about $5 billion. Carnival, the world's largest cruise operator, is trying to disrupt a merger between Royal Caribbean and P&O Princess (POC: down $1.06 to $23.10, Research, Estimates) -- the second- and third-largest global players, worth around $7.4 billion. Carnival originally bid $4.5 billion in December for P&O Princess.
Carnival had said its offer was contingent on P&O Princess ensuring that its joint venture with Royal Caribbean can be terminated without cost or liability.
The revised bid by Carnival represents only a marginal increase in value and has greater uncertainty in relation to conditionality than prior bid, Royal said.
"Carnival again appears to be trying to distract attention from and delay the [deal]," Royal Caribbean Chairman and CEO said. "The continuation of these distraction is likely to be damaging for the operations of both our businesses."
In December, Princess extended until Jan. 18 deadline for Carnival to put forth their best offer. Royal Caribbean (RCL: up $0.32 to $16.51, Research, Estimates) extended its shareholder vote until Feb. 14.
Shares for P&O Princess dropped more than 4 percent Friday in afternoon trading. Carnival fell nearly 2 percent Friday while Royal Caribbean gained nearly 2 percent. 
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