Oceania Cruises purchased by Apollo Management

Wouldn't it be nice, when you go shopping, to come home with, say, a hotel chain, ski resort, and a satellite radio company? Now that's power-shopping. Apollo Management, with over $16 billion invested, has pockets plenty deep enough to have done all that--and it just added Oceania Cruises to the trophy case with an $850 million majority investment.

Oceania chairman and CEO Frank del Rio, who remains a stakeholder in the company, explained that the rock-solid financial footing gives the cruise line the capital resources to play with the big boys, such as being able to order capital-intensive new ships.

Oceania's current three midsize, 684-passenger ships are simply super, successfully delivering on the company's premise of a near-luxury experience at premium pricing, sailing around the world to Europe, China and the Far East, Australia, New Zealand, South America, Central America and the Caribbean.