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February 10, 2003 EC approves Carnival-Princess DLC The European Commission has approved an agreement whereby cruise operators Carnival Corp. of the United States and Britain's P&O Princess plc will create a dual listed company structure (DLC) combining their activities. The Commission has concluded that there have been no significant changes in the cruise markets in Europe since July, when it cleared what was then a takeover bid from Carnival for P&O Princess. The DLC will not involve a merger or transfer of assets between Carnival and P&O; instead the two companies will be managed and operated as if they were a single economic enterprise pursuant to contractual arrangements and amendments to each company's constitutional documents. Although each company will continue to have a separate existence, the boards and senior management of each company will be identical. The Commission says its investigation confirmed that the DLC structure has no particular significance for the competitive analysis of the proposed transaction and that, from a competition point of view, the current transaction is not materially different from the previous Carnival bid for P&O Princess, which the Commission approved last July. The Commission's investigation also revealed the absence of any significant changes in the cruise markets concerned since July 2002 and, therefore, it approved the new operation. Recommend This Page Enter an email address HOME