Virgin Group, the Branson family-owned branded investment group, has formed a new cruise line business, Virgin Cruises.
Tom McAlpin will join Virgin Cruises as CEO and will head the management team. Most recently, Tom has been President and CEO of The World, Residences at Sea. Tom also served as President of Disney Cruise Line having joined as part of the founding management team.
Virgin Cruises will be headquartered in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area and plans to design and construct two new world class cruise ships. At this time, the company has not disclosed when it will start operating.
Virgin Group has partnered with private investment firm Bain Capital to work on this new venture. Financial terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.
Conceived in 1970 by Sir Richard Branson, the Virgin Group includes mobile telephony, travel and transportation, financial services, leisure and entertainment, health and wellness, and space tourism.
