Newport Beach-based Ambassadors International Inc. said Wednesday it plans to buy American West Steamboat Company LLC from Oregon Rail Holdings LLC.
The travel and event management company will pay back $4.3 million in debt and take on $41.5 million in existing loans as part of the deal. It also will pay 250,000 shares, worth about $4 million, if financial targets are met.
Ambassadors International is run by Joe Ueberroth, son of former Major League Baseball commissioner and head of the Los Angeles Olympics, Peter Ueberroth, who is chairman.
Founded in 1995, American West Cruises operates two ships, the 231-passenger Empress of the North and the 150-passenger Queen of the West.
It runs trips along the Columbia and Snake rivers, Alaska’s Inside Passage, British Columbia and Washington’s Puget Sound.
Ambassadors International said that David Giersdorf will join the company as president and chief operating officer of its Ambassadors Cruise Group LLC unit, which was created to run American West Cruises.
Giersdorf was executive vice president, marketing and sales, at Carnival Corp.’s Holland America Line Inc.
The deal must be approved by the Department of Transportation. It’s expected to close in the first quarter.
