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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2021
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Activists bid to seize $14m Nygard Cay
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
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NVIRONMENTAL activists are urging the Supreme Court to permit a receiver to seize possession of Nygard Cay, which was last valued at $14m, and sell it to satisfy its owner’s Bahamian legal debts. Save the Bays, in court documents obtained by Tribune Business, is seeking court orders “for deliveryup of vacant possession” and the property’s subsequent sale to settle $412,000 in legal costs and certificates of taxation awarded in its favour
• Urge court to appoint receiver to recover debt • $6m struck off value due to ‘illegal expansion’ • Appraisal: Mayan-themed buildings worthless and against Peter Nygard. The unpaid debts stem from successful Judicial Review challenges to Nygard Cay’s “illegal expansion”, which the Canadian fashion designer undertook over several decades in doubling his property’s size despite not possessing the necessary approvals and permits from the government. Fred Smith QC, Save the FRED SMITH QC
PETER NYGARD
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Superplex cut-off over $506,000 BPL dispute
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
THE Fusion Superplex was yesterday locked in urgent negotiations with Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) after its electricity was cut-off over a $506,000 debt despite fully complying with a payment plan. Carlos Foulkes, the cinema and entertainment complex’s chief executive, told Tribune Business it had pulled off the “remarkable achievement” of staying current with its electricity bills for the past five months despite revenues being reduced to the bare minimum by the COVID-19 enforced closure of most outlets. He argued, though, that it was now “untenable” for BPL to demand it cover more than half a million
• Disconnected despite being payment plan current • Urges debt be ‘offset’ with $498k damages claim • Staff ‘heartbroken’ amid wait for re-opening nod
FUSION SUPERPLEX dollars in prior arrears given that the utility’s 100 percent owner, the government, was responsible for its inability to pay by refusing to allow it to re-open more than 11 months since the first pandemic-related lockdown.
Law needs to alter for GB airport deal By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE government must change the Airport Authority Act to facilitate its acquisition of Grand Bahama International Airport, a Cabinet minister has revealed, adding that a deal “is so close I can feel it”. Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, told Tribune Business that the “location specific” nature of the Act requires it to be amended so that Grand Bahama’s primary gateway
DIONISIO D’AGUILAR can legally be brought under its ownership authority and control. “We’ve finished the negotiations; we now have to go
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Oil opponents: ‘Books not closed’ on drilling
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
OIL exploration opponents last night said the fight against drilling is not over despite the Bahamas Petroleum Company’s (BPC) failure to strike a commercial find as they renewed calls for a lasting ban. Local environmental activists and their allies argued that “the books are not closed” even though BPC this week announced it is plugging its Perseverance One well and switching its attention to other assets in
Trinidad & Tobago, Suriname and Uruguay. “The books are not closed on this drill. The public deserves to know more about what happened with the Perseverance One well. It was clear from BPC’s after-action statement that there were problems with the drilling,” said Chris Wilke, global advocacy manager for the US-based Waterkeeper Alliance. “Where is the drilling report? Where is the geologist report? Why did the drill stop at 3,900 metres
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Mr Foulkes also revealed that Fusion Superplex has a $498,000 outstanding claim against the state-owned energy monopoly over equipment it alleges was damaged by voltage fluctuations in so-called “brown
outs”, but said BPL has so far refused to offset the two sums owed despite being similar in size. The Fusion Superplex chief, who ended his conversation with Tribune Business to take a call from BPL’s chief executive, Whitney Heastie, said: “The goal was to keep the current payments, which we have been doing. They [BPL] are demanding payment of arrears, which we are unable to make under these conditions. “We have only one outlet [the Edge outdoor dining restaurant] open with
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Cable’s $70m loan remedies ‘breaches’ with Aliv bond terms By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net CABLE Bahamas’ $70m long-term loan to its Aliv affiliate was yesterday said to have remedied the mobile operator’s noncompliance with conditions attached to $60m in previously-issued bonds. Franklyn Butler, the BISX-listed communications provider’s chief executive, told Tribune Business that the introduction of “more patient capital” by Aliv’s parent has addressed the breaches previously identified in financial statements for the year to end-June 2020. The $70m loan transaction’s completion has allowed Cable Bahamas to reclassify the $58m-plus debt owed by Aliv to bondholders from a so-called “current” liability to one that is non-current, as reflected on its balance sheet at end-December 2020. “That is the Aliv financing being consolidated,” Mr Butler explained. “From an Aliv perspective they’re now in control of their network because there’s no vendor financing, and they have now completed their full financing based on the original plan they had. Aliv had always contemplated to take on some form of bank debt. “From Cable Bahamas’ perspective, we have security over the assets of Aliv and we believe we have put in enough financing so that Aliv’s preference shareholders and bond holders are fully secured. We see it as an investment that will help drive growth and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation). “We working with RF
FRANKLYN BUTLER Holdings, as the bond trustee, on the covenant breaches and, as we did not have long-term financing in place that was critical to put the $70m in and support it to make sure we’re not in breach of any of the bond covenants.” Cable Bahamas’ financial statements for the year to end-June 2020 had disclosed non-compliance with the terms and conditions attached to the unsecured Series A and B bonds issued in March 2017 to help provide capital to fund Aliv’s network expansion. “The proceeds of the notes were used for various capital projects and to fund working capital requirements,” the financial statements said. “The terms of the notes are governed by a trustee agreement, and all payments associated with the notes are required to be paid through a payment agent. “During the year, and as at June 30, 2020, the group was not in compliance with the financial covenants of the notes as set out in the trustee agreement. As a result, the notes have been reclassified this year to current liabilities in the consolidated statement of financial position. “Subsequent to yearend the breach remained unresolved, and while no waiver had been received,
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