Lindblad Expeditions’ acquisition of Orion Expedition Cruises will allow a well-earned break for the Australian founder. AS revealed yesterday by Cruise Weekly, Orion Expedition Cruises has been sold to Lindblad, with managing director Sarina Bratton to be replaced in the Sydney office by chief operating officer Joel Katz. When she...
Lindblad Expeditions’
acquisition of Orion Expedition
Cruises will allow a well-earned
break for the Australian founder.
AS revealed yesterday by Cruise Weekly,
Orion Expedition Cruises has been sold to
Lindblad, with managing director Sarina
Bratton to be replaced in the Sydney office by
chief operating officer Joel Katz.
When she vacates the role on 19 Apr, Bratton
plans to “enjoy some time off” for the
immediate future.
“I’m going to have fun and do some travelling
and play golf,” she told CW in a phone interview.
“I’ve been running businesses for almost 30
years, since I was head of Cunard Asia Pacific in
the early 80s, and then there was Norwegian
Star until late 2000 and then Orion.”
After a break, Bratton intends to “ramp up”
her public speaking career and look into new
company directorships.
When asked if she would return to Australia’s
cruising industry, Bratton said: “I believe I will
probably contribute to the sector in a global
sense.”
But she said she would miss Orion, which she
founded in 2004.
“Of course, it’s my baby”.
“I will miss the people and my guests,
because without them, we’d be nothing.”
The Orion deal followed an agreement by the
company’s three shareholders: Bratton, US
private equity firm KSL Capital Partners and
DVB Bank’s Cruise and Ferry Masterfund.
“The Cruise & Ferry Masterfund offered to
buy out KSL and they agreed, and I tagged
along with selling my shares,” Bratton said.
The Cruise & Ferry Fund owns 70% of
Lindblad and undertook the final transaction.
“It’s a great testament for an Australian
company to be courted by global brands,”
Bratton said.
The timing of the sale was “fairly typical” for
private equity companies, she said.
“They normally invest and try to exit around
that 3-5 year period, and we sold to KSL in
2008, so it’s not unusual.”
The first female founder of a shipping
company and Australasia’s only five-star
expedition cruise line, Bratton was previously
managing director of Norwegian Capricorn
Line, a joint venture partnership between
Australian interests and Miami-based NCL.
As vice president and general manager Asia
Pacific for Cunard Line, she grew the business
from a sales agency with $300,000 revenue
into an operation with 33 staff and revenue of
more than $30 million.
The popular, award-winning Orion Expedition
Cruises, formed in 2004, was a world leader in
sustainability and adventurous itineraries.
The company offloaded its second luxury
ship, Orion II, after a series of problems and in
January made international headlines for its
expensive rescue of a French sailor stranded at
sea near Tasmania.
MEANWHILE, in other Lindblad news, the
company’s 62-guest National Geographic Sea
Lion has been forced to cancel her current 8-
day Panama and Costa Rica cruise after the
ship struck a rock whilst in the Las Perlas
Islands on day three of the journey.
Fortunately no-one was injured during the
incident, however the rock did cause damage
to the ship’s hull, forcing the vessel to return to
Panama City to undergo repairs.
Guests were given the option of flying home
with a full refund, or continuing on with the
adventure via a land program before flying
home with a US$2,500 refund.
As for the ship, she is currently undergoing
repairs in drydock, with Lindblad cancelling her
09 Mar departure in order to ensure she is
ready for her 16 Mar departure.
The accident follows hot on the heels of a
similar incident earlier this month where
Hurtigruten’s Kong Harald hit a submerged
rock near the Norwegian Coast and was forced
to cancel the vessel’s voyage for repairs.
Harald is due to return to service on 12 Mar.
