Technology

Hornblower Group to Be Acquired and Receive Significant New Equity Investment

Published

2 years ago

February 21, 2024

Strategic Value Partners to Become Majority Owner of Company, with Crestview Partners Retaining Significant Ownership

Agreement with Investors Provides for $121 Million in New-Money Financing to Support Ongoing Operations and Total Debt Reduction of Approximately $720 Million

Company’s Global Land- and Water-Based Experiences and Transportation Services Are Continuing as Usual and Performing Well with Strong and Growing Demand

American Queen Voyages, Hornblower’s Overnight Cruise Business, Will Be Sold or Wound Down, as that Division Has Not Recovered from the Pandemic

Crestview Partners Will Become Sole Owner of Journey Beyond, the Leading Experiential Travel Group in Australia

NEW YORK, Feb. 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Hornblower Group (“Hornblower” or the “Company”) today announced that it has entered into an agreement with its investors that will strengthen the Company’s financial foundation and position Hornblower for a successful future. Under the terms of the agreement, funds managed by Strategic Value Partners, LLC and its affiliates (together, “SVP”), a global alternative investment firm, will acquire majority ownership of Hornblower and provide a significant equity investment in the business. Crestview Partners (“Crestview”) will retain a significant minority position in Hornblower and become the sole owner of Journey Beyond, a stand-alone operating unit of Hornblower and the leading experiential travel provider in Australia. The agreement also provides for Hornblower to receive $121 million in new-money financing from SVP-managed funds and Crestview, and the Company’s total debt will be reduced by approximately $720 million.

In connection with the agreement, Hornblower’s overnight cruising business American Queen Voyages (“AQV”) will be sold or, if a sale cannot be achieved, its operations will be wound down. Hornblower is taking this action because of the underperformance of AQV, which has not rebounded from the pandemic.

These collective actions will enable Hornblower to move ahead with a more focused portfolio, stronger balance sheet and additional financial flexibility, well-positioned to continue driving growth in its core land- and water-based experiences businesses. These core businesses are delivering excellent results and serving thousands of guests every day.

“Building on our commitment to deliver amazing experiences for our guests, Hornblower has grown to become a global leader in world-class experiences and transportation,” said Kevin Rabbitt, Chief Executive Officer, Hornblower Group. “We have strong relationships with our government agency and business partners, and our core businesses are performing well with robust and growing demand.”

Mr. Rabbitt added, “The steps we are taking today will enable us to address AQV and strengthen our financial foundation as we continue serving our guests and commuters around the world. With the support of our financial stakeholders, we will continue to advance our business initiatives and drive growth. We thank the entire Hornblower team for their hard work and dedication, as well as our vendors and partners across our businesses for their continued support.”

David Geenberg, Co-Head of the North American Investment Team at SVP, said, “Hornblower is an outstanding company and a market leader in water-based transportation, tours and experiences, with complementary businesses and long-term contracts in attractive markets. With substantial growth potential in travel and tourism, we see significant opportunities ahead for Hornblower to further expand its leadership position. We look forward to working closely with the leadership team to help support the Company’s strong operating staff, excellent service and exceptional guest experiences as we usher in Hornblower’s next era of success.”

Brian Cassidy, President of Crestview, added, “This transaction is an important step in ensuring Hornblower’s future success, and we are enthusiastic about partnering with SVP on the Company’s next growth chapter post-COVID. We are also excited about being the sole owner of Journey Beyond, which has incredible growth opportunities ahead.”

Information for Guests, Commuters and Customers

Outside of AQV, Hornblower’s current services will not be impacted in any way by the transaction:

All services are operating as usual and running on their normal schedules.Booked trips, excursions, private events and charters, dining and sightseeing cruises, tours and activities and other experiences are continuing as planned.Guests and commuters can purchase tickets, make reservations, book groups and private events, participate in excursions and utilize transportation services as usual.

Hornblower is continuing to serve its B2B partners and customers as usual:

The Anchor™ all-in-one ticketing & operating system is supporting partners and customers in their seamless digital journey as normal. Anchor Operating System, LLC is a subsidiary of Hornblower Group and an independent entity.

Journey Beyond is operating normally and continuing to serve guests as usual.

Implementing the Agreement

To efficiently implement the agreement and ensure an orderly sale or wind-down of AQV, Hornblower and certain of its affiliates have initiated a voluntary court-supervised and pre-arranged process under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Due to the overwhelming support of its investors, Hornblower expects to move through this process on an accelerated basis and emerge from Chapter 11 in approximately four months.

In connection with this process, Hornblower has received a commitment for $300 million in debtor-in-possession (“DIP”) financing from Deutsche Bank Private Credit & Infrastructure to refinance the Company’s existing superpriority term loan, in addition to the $121 million in new-money financing from SVP-managed funds and Crestview. Following court approval, this new financing, combined with cash generated from ongoing operations, is expected to support the business during the court-supervised process.

Separately, the Company is commencing ancillary proceedings in Canada under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) seeking recognition of the U.S. Chapter 11 proceedings in Canada.

Journey Beyond is not included in the court-supervised process.

Additional Information

Additional information is available at www.HornblowerRestructuring.com. Court filings and other information related to the proceedings are available on a separate website administrated by the Company’s claims agent, Omni Agent Solutions, at https://omniagentsolutions.com/Hornblower; by calling Omni representatives toll-free at (888) 504-8055, or (747) 263-0163 for calls originating outside of the U.S. or Canada; or by emailing HornblowerInquiries@OmniAgnt.com.

Hornblower has ensured that appropriate information and resources are available for AQV customers. For information about AQV refunds, please visit www.AQVrefunds.com. Additional information, including FAQs, is available at www.AQVinfo.com, or by calling toll-free (888) 202-5784, or (747) 288-6437 for calls originating outside of the U.S. or Canada.

For EPK media assets, including photos and b-roll, click here.

Advisors

Guggenheim Securities, LLC is serving as investment banker to Hornblower, Alvarez & Marsal North America, LLC is serving as financial advisor, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is serving as legal counsel and Porter Hedges LLP is serving as co-counsel.

Perella Weinberg Partners LP is serving as investment banker to SVP and other Hornblower lenders, FTI Consulting, Inc. is serving as financial advisor and Milbank LLP is serving as legal advisor.

PJT Partners is serving as financial advisor to Crestview, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is serving as legal counsel and Vinson & Elkins LLP is serving as co-counsel.

About Hornblower Group

Hornblower Group is a global leader in experiences and transportation. Hornblower Group’s corporate businesses are comprised of two premier experience divisions: City Experiences, its land- and water-based experiences as well as ferry and transportation services; and Journey Beyond, Australia’s leading experiential travel group. Spanning a 100-year history, Hornblower Group’s portfolio of international offerings includes water-based experiences (dining and sightseeing cruises), land-based experiences (walking tours, food tours and excursions), overnight experiences (cruises and railways) and ferry and transportation services. Hornblower Marine, a subsidiary of Hornblower Group, provides vessel outhaul and maintenance services at Bridgeport Boatworks in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Additionally, Anchor Operating System, LLC, a subsidiary of Hornblower Group and independent entity, provides reservation, ticketing and website integration services for clients in the transportation, tourism and entertainment industries. Today, Hornblower Group’s global portfolio covers 114 countries and territories, 125 U.S. cities and serves more than 30 million guests annually. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Hornblower Group’s additional corporate offices reside in Adelaide, Australia; Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois; London, United Kingdom; New York, New York; Dublin, Ireland; and across Ontario, Canada.  For more information, visit hornblowercorp.com.

About SVP

SVP is a global alternative investment firm that focuses on special situations, private equity, opportunistic credit, and financing opportunities. The firm uses a combination of sourcing, financial and operational expertise to help its portfolio companies unlock value and accelerate their businesses. SVP has significant influence or control with respect to more than 15 businesses around the world, which have approximately 100,000 employees and over $12 billion in revenues. The firm invests in a broad range of sectors including significant experience in travel and transportation, with influence or control of leading global businesses including major toll roads, an aircraft manager and lessor, and an airport services company. Today, SVP manages over $18 billion in assets under management, and since inception, has invested more than $47 billion of capital. The firm has approximately 200 employees, including more than 90 investment professionals, across its main offices in Greenwich (CT) and London, and additional offices in New York and Tokyo. Learn more at www.SVPGlobal.com.

About Crestview

Founded in 2004, Crestview is a private equity firm focused on the middle market. The firm is based in New York and manages funds with approximately $10 billion of aggregate capital commitments. The firm is led by a group of partners who have complementary experience and distinguished backgrounds in private equity, finance, operations and management. Crestview has senior investment professionals focused on sourcing and managing investments in each of the specialty areas of the firm: media, industrials and financial services. For more information, please visit www.crestview.com.

About DB PCI

Deutsche Bank Private Credit & Infrastructure business is Deutsche Bank’s US-based balance sheet lending platform. DB PCI provides financing to bank clients including corporates, projects and alternative investment managers using bank capital. DB PCI has a wide mandate to underwrite loan facilities including bridge, term and construction loans, as well as letters of credit, with a focus on middle market direct lending, digital and conventional infrastructure, operational real estate, venture debt and fund finance. In the last 8 years PCI has underwritten transactions in excess of $30bn and currently maintains over $18Bn in balances outstanding.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains various forward-looking statements within the meaning of US federal securities laws, that reflect management’s current expectations or beliefs regarding future events and results of operations, including Hornblower’s Chapter 11 proceedings, statements concerning the ultimate impact of the proposed restructuring on the Company and its business, and ongoing business prospects. They include statements that include words such as “expect,” “intend,” “believe” “anticipate” and similar words or expressions. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding Hornblower’s ability to obtain Bankruptcy Court approval with respect to motions in the Chapter 11 proceedings; Hornblower’s intention to continue operations during the Chapter 11 proceedings and its ability to fund its post-petition operations; statements about Hornblower’s plans to sell assets of AQV pursuant to Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code and the extent and timing of any such sales and wind-down; Hornblower’s ability to fulfil its obligations under the statute contract; and other statements regarding Hornblower’s strategy and future operations, performance and prospects, among others. These statements are based on numerous assumptions and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual future results may vary materially from those expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements, and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected by numerous factors. As a result, forward-looking statements should be understood to be only predictions and statements of our current beliefs and are not guarantees of performance. Hornblower undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Contacts

Hornblower

Melissa Gunderson
Senior Vice President, Global Communications and Brand
Hornblower Group
PR@hornblower.com

Michael Freitag / Aaron Palash / Aura Reinhard
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
212-355-4449

SVP

Liz Bruce
Managing Director, Head of Communications and Brand
media@svpglobal.com

Crestview

Jeffrey Taufield / Daniel Yunger
Kekst CNC
212-521-4800
jeffrey.taufield@kekstcnc.com / daniel.yunger@kekstcnc.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hornblower-group-to-be-acquired-and-receive-significant-new-equity-investment-302067034.html

SOURCE Hornblower Group

Technology

Safetyfirst Systems, LLC Provides Notice of Data Security Event

Published

46 minutes ago

July 24, 2026

PARSIPPANY, N.J., July 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Safetyfirst Systems, LLC (“SFS”) is providing notice of a data security event that may involve information relating to certain individuals. While SFS is not aware of any misuse of information associated with this event, it is providing notice to potentially affected individuals out of an abundance of caution.

On January 19, 2026, SFS identified suspicious activity involving a limited portion of its server environment. Upon discovering the activity, SFS quickly took steps to secure its systems, notified federal law enforcement, engaged leading third-party forensic specialists, and performed a detailed investigation into the nature, scope, and impact of the activity. The investigation determined that an unauthorized actor accessed and/or acquired certain files from limited SFS systems between January 16, 2026, and January 19, 2026. SFS then conducted a comprehensive review of the affected files to determine what information may have been involved and identify the individuals to whom the information relates. The review has recently concluded, and SFS is providing this notification to potentially impacted individuals out of an abundance of caution. Although the types of information vary by individual, the affected information may include names, Social Security numbers, and driver’s license numbers.

Protecting the privacy and security of the information entrusted to SFS is a responsibility the company takes very seriously. In response to this event, SFS promptly strengthened security measures, continues to enhance its technical safeguards and monitoring capabilities, and is reviewing existing policies and procedures to further protect against similar incidents in the future. SFS is also providing notice to potentially affected individuals and, where required, appropriate regulatory authorities.

Although SFS is unaware of any misuse of personal information impacted by this event, individuals are encouraged to remain vigilant against events of identity theft by reviewing account statements, explanation of benefits, and monitoring free credit reports for suspicious activity and to detect errors. Any suspicious activity should be reported to the appropriate insurance company, health care provider, or financial institution.

Individuals seeking additional information regarding this event can contact SFS’s dedicated assistance line at 1-833-289-5523 between the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Individuals may also write to SFS at PO Box 101, 3299 US Highway 46, Parsippany, NJ 07054-9998.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/safetyfirst-systems-llc-provides-notice-of-data-security-event-302831894.html

SOURCE Safetyfirst Systems, LLC

Technology

Sunrate and Mastercard Release White Paper on Agentic AI and the Future of B2B Global Payments

Published

46 minutes ago

July 24, 2026

SHANGHAI, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Sunrate, the global payment and treasury management platform, and Mastercard, a global technology company in the payments industry, unveiled a joint white paper, Beyond Automation: Defining Agentic Global Payments, at the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC).

Among the first reports in the payments industry to examine the impact of Agentic AI on B2B cross-border payments, the white paper provides a comprehensive framework for understanding how AI agents are reshaping enterprise payment operations. It proposes that cross-border payments are evolving beyond digitisation and automation into a new stage: Autonomy—where AI agents with reasoning, planning, and execution capabilities can independently orchestrate and optimise end-to-end payment and treasury workflows within defined governance frameworks.

As businesses expand across borders, B2B cross-border payments continue to be constrained by fragmented workflows, disconnected systems, foreign exchange inefficiencies, rising compliance requirements, and complex reconciliation processes. While traditional automation improves individual tasks, the white paper demonstrates that Agentic AI represents a fundamental shift by enabling intelligent agents to coordinate entire payment journeys across systems, counterparties, and approval workflows.

Drawing on Sunrate’s global payment infrastructure and AI-native product capabilities, together with Mastercard’s expertise in secure payment networks and data intelligence, the white paper defines Agentic Global Payments — a new category of AI-native global payment infrastructure built to automate and manage complex enterprise workflows.

The report identifies 16 major pain points across the B2B payment lifecycle and outlines 13 high-value AI use cases spanning supplier onboarding, accounts payable and receivable, virtual commercial cards, payment routing, foreign exchange management, compliance screening, fraud detection, reconciliation, and conversational operational support. It also demonstrates how AI agents can automate complex workflows—from extracting information across multiple document formats and conducting compliance checks to initiating payments, optimising FX execution, and completing reconciliation—while operating within enterprise governance and control frameworks.

The white paper further highlights that trusted adoption of agentic payments depends on more than technological capability. It identifies governance, transparency, security, and ecosystem collaboration as essential foundations for enterprise deployment, supported by frameworks such as Know Your Agent (KYA), payment tokenisation, auditability, and cross-industry interoperability.

Sunrate.AI portfolio currently includes the Payment Agent, FX Agent, Compliance Agent, Onboarding Agent, and Chat Agent, designed to help enterprises automate and optimise critical payment and treasury processes while maintaining compliance and operational control.

Mastercard has also been actively building the foundations for trusted agentic commerce – combining AI capabilities with verifiable authorisation, clear accountability and proven payments security. Its work in this area, including Agent Pay (alongside Agent Pay for Machines) and Verifiable Intent, are proof points in how Mastercard is enabling AI to participate in commerce safely and transparently.

“Our mission is to make global payments seamless, compliant, and intelligent,” said Paul Meng, Co-founder and CEO of Sunrate. “As businesses continue expanding internationally, AI agents will fundamentally reshape how enterprises manage global payments—enabling smoother capital flows, reducing operational friction, and embedding real-time intelligence into every payment decision. This white paper represents an important step in helping the industry understand how Agentic AI can be deployed responsibly at enterprise scale.”

“Agentic commerce is changing how businesses make and execute payment decisions, but speed without accountability creates new categories of risk,” said Anouska Ladds, Executive Vice President, Commercial & New Payment Flows, Asia Pacific, Mastercard. “As AI starts to act on behalf of businesses, autonomous payment decisions need a clear, auditable chain of identity, intent and action. That’s what allows organisations to delegate with genuine confidence — and what will determine whether agentic commerce scales past pilots.”

Released under WAIC 2026’s theme, “Intelligent Partners, Co-creating the Future,” the white paper provides business leaders with practical guidance on adopting AI-driven payment capabilities, covering implementation approaches, governance considerations, and real-world enterprise applications.

By combining Sunrate’s expertise in global payments and treasury management with Mastercard’s trusted payment infrastructure and network capabilities, the collaboration reflects a shared commitment to accelerating the next generation of intelligent, secure, and autonomous B2B global payments.

Click here to check the white paper.

About Sunrate

Sunrate is a leading global payment and treasury management platform for businesses worldwide. Founded in 2016, Sunrate has enabled companies to operate and scale both locally and globally in 190+ countries and regions with its cutting-edge infrastructure, global network, and unified solutions.

Sunrate operates through offices across key markets, including Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and London. The company partners with the top global financial institutions, such as Citibank, Standard Chartered, Barclays, J.P. Morgan. Sunrate is also the principal member of Mastercard and Visa. To learn more about Sunrate, visit https://www.sunrate.com/.

About Mastercard

Mastercard powers economies and empowers people in 200+ countries and territories worldwide. Together with our customers, we’re building a resilient economy where everyone can prosper. We support a wide range of digital payments choices, making transactions secure, simple, smart and accessible. Our technology and innovation, partnerships and networks combine to deliver a unique set of products and services that help people, businesses and governments realize their greatest potential.

www.mastercard.com

SOURCE Sunrate

Technology

JAMS Launches AI for Enterprise Job Scheduling: JAX and JAMS MCP

Published

46 minutes ago

July 24, 2026

A new AI agent and an open-standard connector let IT teams query, diagnose, and manage automation in plain language, on the model they choose, with operational data able to stay onshore inside their own network

SYDNEY, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — JAMS Software, an orchestration solution for scheduled and event-driven automation, today announced the general availability of two AI capabilities for enterprise job scheduling: JAX, an AI agent built into the JAMS Web Client, and JAMS MCP, a connector built on the open Model Context Protocol standard that brings JAMS into external AI coding tools. Both capabilities ship at no additional cost as part of JAMS Web.

Automation environments grow faster than the teams that run them. Jobs multiply across SQL Server, Azure Data Factory, Airflow, SAP, JDE, and Banner, and when one fails, finding the root cause often means searching several consoles at once, frequently outside business hours. At the same time, IT leaders carry pressure to adopt AI while staying accountable for where operational data goes. JAX and JAMS MCP close both gaps together.

Full details on how JAX and JAMS MCP work, including the control model behind every action, are available at jamsscheduler.com/product/ai.

JAX is an AI agent that runs inside the JAMS Web Client. It finds jobs, troubleshoots failures, and answers how-to questions in plain language, with each response grounded in the JAMS user guide and checked against a built-in glossary. JAX acts only when a user asks it to. Reads flow freely, and every write action pauses for the user’s explicit approval before it runs. JAX does not learn between sessions, and conversations are not retained on the server.

JAMS MCP is a connector, built on the open Model Context Protocol standard, that brings JAMS into the AI tools engineering teams already use, including Cursor, VS Code with Copilot, Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and Codex. Users query jobs, investigate failures, and manage runs in plain language without leaving their tool.

Both capabilities run inside the customer’s own network and act as the signed-in user, with that user’s exact JAMS permissions. There is no elevated AI account: whatever a user cannot do in the JAMS interface, JAX and JAMS MCP cannot do on that user’s behalf. Every JAX and MCP operation is recorded in its own dedicated log, and changes made through the JAMS API land in the JAMS audit trail like any other change. Customers choose their own AI model, whether a commercial provider such as OpenAI or Anthropic or a model running entirely on their own hardware, and JAMS never trains on customer data. In the current release, neither feature edits or deletes a job, folder, schedule, or agent definition. For teams that need operational data to stay onshore, JAX runs on a local model entirely inside the customer’s own network, so nothing leaves at all.

“Adopting AI usually means giving something up, most often visibility into where your data goes,” said Pete Hegland, Chief Executive Officer of JAMS Software. “We built JAX and JAMS MCP so that trade does not have to happen. Every action runs as the signed-in user, every change waits for approval, and the model can run on the customer’s own hardware, keeping operational data onshore.”

“For teams across Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore, two things matter: keeping data onshore, and getting answers when a job fails after hours,” said Shayne Cooper, Account Executive for APAC at JAMS Software. “JAX and JAMS MCP address both. The model can run on the customer’s own hardware, and the answer arrives in plain language at the moment it is needed.”

JAX and JAMS MCP are available now to all JAMS Web customers across Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore, with no separate licence, SKU, or additional cost. AI-assisted creation of new jobs and workflows from a plain-language description is on the roadmap for a future release, gated by the same approvals and permissions as every other action.

Learn how JAX and JAMS MCP work at https://jamsscheduler.com/product/ai.

Fast facts

JAX is an AI agent built into the JAMS Web Client for job scheduling and workflow automation.JAMS MCP is a connector built on the open Model Context Protocol standard, for Cursor, VS Code with Copilot, Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and Codex.Both act as the signed-in user, with that user’s exact JAMS permissions, and there is no elevated AI account.Customers choose the AI model, including a local model that runs entirely inside their own network.JAMS never trains on customer data.Both are available now at no additional cost as part of JAMS Web.

About JAMS Software
Founded in 1987, JAMS Software is an orchestration solution that helps IT teams centralize, automate, and manage scheduled and event-driven jobs across complex, hybrid environments. Over 850 customers rely on JAMS to run their automated workloads. JAMS Software, LLC is headquartered at 108 Patriot Drive, Suite A, Middletown, DE 19709.

Media Contact
Bobby Schmidt, Vice President of Marketing
press@jamssoftware.com
800.261.4267

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/jams-launches-ai-for-enterprise-job-scheduling-jax-and-jams-mcp-302833800.html

SOURCE JAMS Software