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MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 2024
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FTX US chief feared $9bn Bahamas ‘risk’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net FTX’s US chief has admitted he feared a “risk” that the crypto exchange’s Bahamian liquidators “could be awarded material” sums on their $9bn-plus claim if he failed to settle their dispute. John Ray, who heads the 134 FTX entities currently in Chapter 11 protection in Delaware, also conceded in legal documents filed late last week that his plan to bring the group out of bankruptcy could be blocked if the battle with Brian Simms KC, the Lennox Paton senior partner, and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) accounting duo, Kevin Cambridge and Peter Greaves, was not resolved. The filings, which represent Mr Ray’s bid to obtain Delaware Bankruptcy Court approval of his settlement with the Bahamian liquidation trio, reveal there were multiple factors driving him to seek peace besides the threat posed to creditors by “costly,
t -PDBM MJRVJEBUPST DPVME IBWF HPU ANBUFSJBM TVN PO DMBJN t "OE AQPUFOUJBMMZ QSFWFOU $IBQUFS CBOLSVQUDZ FTDBQF t 3BZ UP HJWF '59 %JHJUBM .BSLFUT USJP N CSJEHF MPBO time-consuming and uncertain litigation” that could delay and reduce the value of asset recoveries. Apart from the possibility that FTX Digital Markets’ liquidators might succeed with their claim, and the potential thwarting of his Chapter 11 restructuring plan, the FTX chief was also troubled by the likelihood that the Supreme Court would not enforce any Delaware judgments covering
Bahamasbased assets such as the crypto exchange’s $256m worth of property purchases. ExplainJOHN RAY ing the rationale for the deal with his Bahamian counterparts, Mr Ray said: “My view is that the global settlement avoids costly, time-consuming and uncertain litigation and eliminates the risk that the Bahamas court will render decisions before this court on matters that are core to the debtors’ Chapter 11 cases or that could harm the debtors’ claims, arguments and defences in other litigation and their reorganisation efforts. “I believe that, absent final resolution of the disputed property issues between the debtors and FTX Digital Markets, [it] could
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FTX real estate sell-off can’t cover $256m debt By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE sell-off of FTX’s high-end properties “will not be sufficient” to fully repay the $256.3m debt owed to the crypto exchange’s Bahamian subsidiary, it has been asserted. John Ray, head of the 134 FTX entities in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, alleged in legal documents late last week that the estimated “total net sales proceeds” generated from disposing of 35 properties acquired for a combined $222m will not be enough to totally clear FTX Digital Markets’ claim.
BRYSON ALDRICH DECHAMBEAU The filings, which represent Mr Ray’s bid to obtain Delaware Bankruptcy Court approval of his settlement with the Bahamian liquidators of FTX Digital Markets, also reveal the
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‘We didn’t hit $1bn, but we did very well’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamian high-end real estate market will “do at least as good as 2023 if not better” in 2024, as one major realtor said of last year: “We didn’t do $1bn in sales but we did very well.” George Damianos, Damianos Sotheby’s International Realty’s president, told Tribune Business there was “no question” that his firm - which specialises in premium properties - had enjoyed “one of our best years” in 2023 despite not matching the prior year’s 10-figure sales number.
And, looking ahead to the current year, he disclosed that he is “really going to be pushing for 2024 to be better than 2023” as “there’s nothing on the horizon” to suggest the possibility of a downturn or negative forces strong enough to impact the wider market and buyer demand. “Obviously in 2022 we did over $1bn in sales, which was a real record,” Mr Damianos told this newspaper of his company’s performance. “We didn’t do as well; we didn’t do $1bn in sales in 2023, but we did very well. I’m optimistic I
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THE OCEAN CLUB, Four Seasons Residences, Bahamas.
200 jobs through Ocean Club’s $400m expansion By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Ocean Club’s upcoming $400m expansion will create 200 full-time jobs once the development is fully completed in 2027, the project’s partners have revealed. Access Industries, the existing Ocean Club’s owner, confirmed it is partnering with Florida-based real estate developer, Two Roads Development, and the high-end Four Seasons resort brand, to construct 67 private residences that will be priced between $6.5m and $23m. “We’re delighted to work with Four Seasons and Two Roads Development on the Ocean Club Private Residences,” said Jonah
t 1* SFTPSU PXOFS UFBNT GPS SFTJEFODFT t A8JO XJO TPMVUJPO FZFE GPS CFBDI BDDFTT Sonnenborn, head of Access Real Estate, said in a statement. “As a long-term investor on Paradise Island, we continue to stimulate economic growth. This project will bring an additional $400m in economic activity to The Bahamas and is projected to create around 200 full-time jobs.”
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