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TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2018
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$70m Aliv exit delay on Cabinet ‘clarity’ queries By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
T
he Government’s exit from its $70m majority ownership of Aliv has been delayed by the Cabinet’s desire for “clarity and comfort” on the chosen route. Gowon Bowe, pictured, one of the advisers to the planned sale, told Tribune Business that Cabinet ministers had submitted “detailed questions that needed answering” on the private placement offering model that was originally selected as the Government’s exit route. He disclosed that the queries had focused on whether a private placement to Bahamian institutional investors was “the only option” available to the
* Questions on private placement model * ‘Clear instructions to proceed’ awaited * Gov’t warned on delay and ‘ambiguity’
Government, and how this “fits in” with the laws and regulations governing such offerings. The Government would exit 51.75 per cent ownership in Aliv, the second mobile operator, by selling off HoldingCo, the vehicle that holds this equity stake, and Mr Bowe said the
advisers were now awaiting “clear instructions to proceed” from the Minnis administration. He added that the Government had been warned it can ill-afford to cause “confusion and ambiguity” among institutions already approached as potential investors, with lengthy delays also likely to cause a reduced appetite for participation. Mr Bowe said he and fellow offering advisers would be “happy with [Cabinet] consensus”, and did not require unanimity, as they were ready to move “with haste” in placing HoldingCo’s shares once the
go-ahead was received. The Government inherited the private placement model from the Christie administration, which had given its approval to the structure pre-general election. “Ultimately I think the Cabinet, whilst they had agreed to primarily on the same basis they had in place, a number of questions came out from them that they wanted comfort on,” Mr Bowe told Tribune Business. “As they started to think about it, detailed questions came up that we had to answer. We said to them
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Regulator accuses BPL of ‘compromising renewables’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net REGULATORS fear Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) may have “compromised the introduction of sustainable renewable energy in the shortest possible time” by breaching the Electricity Act 2015. The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA), in its draft
* URCA says they breached law, licence * Endangers 30% renewables target * Utility-scale, 1-25MW projects delayed order and initial findings, said the utility monopoly had failed to meet its legal obligation to produce a Renewable Energy Plan (REP), featuring timetables and performance benchmarks, within six months of
the Act taking effect. Noting that “more than 27 months have elapsed” since this occurred, URCA expressed concern that BPL’s continued delay was jeopardising the National Energy Policy (NEP) goal of
generating 30 per cent of this country’s energy needs from renewable sources by 2030. It added that BPL’s failure to produce an acceptable REP was also delaying plans
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Gov’t hotel exit depends if buyer ‘still interested’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net COMPLETION of the Government’s 26-year bid to exit hotel industry ownership now depends on whether the Bahamian purchaser of its last property “is still interested”. Dionisio D’Aguilar, pictured, minister of tourism, told Tribune Business he planned to check with the Lighthouse Yacht Club and Marina’s potential buyer to see if they still wanted to pursue the deal given the length of time that has “elapsed” since the initial offer was submitted. “Someone has offered to buy the property,” he confirmed of the last Hotel Corporation-owned resort. “Their bid was submitted to the Cabinet and approved, but I need to confirm they are still interested. “There has been an offer made and an offer accepted, but I need to make sure the buyer is still interested given the time that has elapsed between when the bid was made and when the bid was accepted. Let me see if he’s decided to buy it.” Both Mr D’Aguilar and Frederick McAlpine, the Hotel Corporation’s chairman, confirmed that the prospective purchaser of the still-closed Andros resort is a Bahamian. They declined to name them, but the latter described
* BAHAMIAN OFFER ON LIGHTHOUSE CLUB * $250K SAVED BY TERMINATING STAFF * TOURISM DEVELOPMENT APPROVAL SOUGHT the buyer as “familiar with the hotel business”, having worked on other boutique Family Island properties. Besides the wait for Cabinet confirmation on the Lighthouse Club deal, Mr McAlpine said the Hotel Corporation Board was also awaiting sign-off on plans to transition into a Tourism Development Corporation - a change that has been “in the works” for almost two decades. Mr McAlpine, the Pineridge MP who has gained a reputation for speaking out against his own government and party, said the failure to complete this transformation has placed The Bahamas “behind” regional competitors, leaving the Government less able to participate in and guide the direction of tourism industry development. “It’s in the works to be sold,” Mr McAlpine said of the Lighthouse Club. “It’s still awaiting confirmation from the Cabinet. We recommended that it be sold and we’re moving towards
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Ownership Registry DPM ‘hopeful’ GDP growth will escape could ‘destabilise’ oil price shocks financial services By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
AN EX-CABINET minister has warned that creating a central Beneficial Ownership Registry could “destabilise” the Bahamian financial services industry and should be shelved “for now”. Ryan Pinder, a former financial services minister, told a Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB)-sponsored seminar that the proposal represented “a major shock” for an industry and client base already reeling from the imposition of numerous international regulatory initiatives within just a few years. He warned that the Register of Beneficial Ownership Bill 2018, tabled recently in the House of Assembly,
* EX-MINISTER URGES ITS SHELVING * WARNS OF CLIENT ‘MAJOR SHOCK’ * BAHAMAS MUST HOLD TO ‘LEVEL PLAYING FIELD’
would likely prove especially alarming for the high net worth Latin American clients that The Bahamas is increasingly targeting. Mr Pinder said such clients had legitimate reasons for confidentiality, given the often-high level of crime and political instability in their home countries, and disclosure of their wealth via hacking or data leak from
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By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
THE DEPUTY Prime Minister is expressing confidence that The Bahamas will meet its 2.5 per cent GDP growth target despite rising oil prices, adding: “Hopefully we’ll be able to ride it out.” KP Turnquest, pictured, conceded to Tribune Business that increased energy costs, with global oil prices hitting the $80 per barrel mark last week, could throw the Government’s economic growth and fiscal consolidation plans off course. However, he expressed optimism that a healthy foreign direct investment (FDI) pipeline, combined with
* ‘FINGERS CROSSED’ BAHAMAS ‘RIDES IT OUT’ * ADMITS CONCERN FOR FISCAL CONSOLIDATION * $1.6BN EXTERNAL RESERVES GIVE BUFFER
external reserves just shy of $1.6bn at end-March 2018, would help cushion any reduction in consumer spending and confidence. “That is obviously something we’re watching,” he said of rising oil prices. “It could have an effect on our consolidation plans, so we have to manage it is as an outlier and build in as many
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