12102018 BUSINESS

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business@tribunemedia.net

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2018

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NIB in cash flow boost via $139m NAD refinancing By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE National Insurance Board (NIB) will receive a cash flow boost in return for smoothing the $139.1m refinancing of Nassau’s airport operator, a Cabinet minister said yesterday. Dionisio D’Aguilar, pictured, minister of tourism and aviation, told Tribune Business that NIB as holder of around 50 percent of the Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD) debt being refinanced had effectively ensured the offering will be successful be agreeing to roll over into the new securities. “NIB is already in for $60-$70m,” Mr D’Aguilar said, explaining that The Bahamas’ social security system will now enjoy the certainty of a 7.5 percent fixed-rate interest coupon as opposed to the unpredictable dividends received in the past. “They’re just agreeing to the 7.5 percent under this new security,” he added, “whereas in the past scenario they were only getting two percent a year. If NAD was capable they’d pay the remaining 11 percent, but in many cases NAD did not pay it. They rolled it over. This will improve the cash flow of NIB as they will be getting 7.5 percent every quarter.” The NAD offering, which formally launches today and closes on December 21, will refinance the Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) operator’s second-tier participating debt tranche that carries a two percent fixed rate and 11 percent floating rate. The latter portion was frequently being deferred and “rolled over”, meaning it was accruing as a bill that had to be paid at some point in the future. Mr D’Aguilar yesterday reiterated his belief that the NAD refinancing is a “winwin all around”, for besides aiding NIB’s cash flow it is also projected to help NAD turn a net profit for the first time in its decade-long history. “It should lead NAD to profitability from net income,” he told Tribune Business. “It’s always had positive earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), but never turned a net profit.” The LPIA operator is projecting that it will turn a comprehensive profit of $2.56m for its current financial year to end-June 2019, driven by further increases in passenger facility and other forms of revenue. Its “bottom line” has previously been weighed down

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Legal battle disrupts $2.8bn Ginn revival By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

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BREWING legal battle has disrupted the $2.8bn revival of Grand Bahama’s former Ginn project and creation of up to 1,400 full-time Bahamian jobs, Tribune Business can reveal. Documents obtained by this newspaper disclose that condominium owners at Old Bahama Bay are attempting through the Supreme Court to block repossession of the resort by Ginn’s financing partner, Lubert Adler, the US-based real estate financier. The repossession is vital to Lubert Adler’s sale of Old Bahama Bay to Toronto-based Skyline

major foreign direct investment (FDI) project that the Government was relying on heavily to turn around Grand Bahama’s moribund economy. Tribune Business understands that a court hearing is likely early this week over the bid by the condo owners and their company, Island Ventures Resort & Club (IVRC), to obtain an injunction Order preventing Lubert Adler and Skyline from “interfering or attempting to interfere” with the Old Bahama Bay assets it operates/manages under a lease agreement.

THE Old Bahama Bay resort faces “irreparable harm” through having to place 1,500 room night reservations “on hold” due to uncertainties over its imminent sale, its condo owners are alleging. John MacDonald, president of Island Ventures Resort and Club (IVRC), the entity formed by the 73 condo owners to keep the Grand Bahama resort open following Ginn’s 2011 default, alleged that its 2019 business has been endangered by lack of clarity over its fate under a new buyer. Besides the room rentals, he claimed in an affidavit

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* Old Bahamas Bay 2019 reservations ‘on hold’ * ‘Unjust’ for new owner to get business for free * Say $1.6m renovation spend on false premise that 945 already-booked marina dock slip leases have also been jeopardised by unknowns relating to Skyline Investments’ plans for Old Bahama Bay as part of its wider $2.8bn investment to revive for former Ginn project in West End. IVRC has been operating Old Bahama Bay’s marina, retail and restaurant facilities and other amenities under the terms of a June 2012 lease with Lubert Adler, Ginn’s former financing partner. The US-based investment

bank has now moved to terminate that arrangement, and repossess the resort and its amenities, in a bid to facilitate Old Bahama Bay’s sale to Skyline Investments so that the Toronto-headquartered developer can proceed with its vision for West End. Mr MacDonald, though, is claiming that the lease termination and subsequent sale will be “unjust and inequitable” since it will essentially “give away for free” the business built up by IVRC over the past

six-and-a-half years of its lease. He and IVRC, in their writ of summons that effectively seeks to block Lubert Adler/Skyline repossessing Old Bahama Bay (see other article on Page 1B), are also seeking reimbursement for $500,000 they spent on repairing the resort’s marina and $1.6m spent on Hurricane Matthew repairs. Detailing the background to the dispute, Mr MacDonald said the terms of the

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‘Leave no room for doubt’ that political parties in NPO bill By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas’ Transparency International affiliate has urged the Government to “leave no room for interpretation” on whether political parties are captured by the Non-Profit Organisations Bill. Lemarque Campbell, of Citizens for a Better Bahamas (CBB), told Tribune Business yesterday that Bahamian political parties appear to come under the Bill’s remit given that the legislation defines nonprofit organisations (NPOs) as including those “formed and established for the purpose of promoting public policies”. The issue of whether the Bill applies to political parties arose in House of

* Transparency affiliate: They are covered * ‘Make them publicly disclose donors, funds’ * Regulator must be ‘politically independent’ Assembly debate last week, and generated significant public commentary among Bahamians who generally agreed that they should be subject to the same standards and regulations as all other non-profits. Mr Campbell, though, argued that the Bill should go further than its present remit by mandating that only political parties - out of all non-profits - be required to publicly disclose their financial statements and identity of donors providing $50,000 or more. While the legislation mandates non-profits to keep accurate accounts,

these only have to be disclosed to sector regulator, the Registrar of Non-Profit Organisations. Mr Campbell, though, said Bahamian democracy depended on greater transparency over political party financing - especially in election campaigns - so voters could detect the motives of donors and “questionable special interest groups”. He also emphasised the need to ensure the Registrar of Non-Profit Organisations was “free from political influence”, given that its integrity and reputation will hinge on such perceptions.

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

“We have to advocate for transparency across the board,” Mr Campbell told Tribune Business. “As we want our leaders to be transparent, we have to be transparent ourselves. It’s unquestionable that [the Bill] will include political parties. “Any party or any organisation that provides public policy, that will be included in the definition of a nonprofit. Any political party from the time they issue their election manifesto to when they campaign on that manifesto, that’s the

IVRC’s summons, seen by this newspaper, also wants the Supreme Court to prevent Old Bahama Bay’s current and potential new owners from “evicting or attempting to evict” it from these leased assets, which include the 72-slip marina, gasoline station, retail and restaurants, reception area and other facilities essential to a properly-functioning resort. The condo owners, headed by IVRC president, John MacDonald, are effectively asking the Supreme

Condo owners fearing 1,500 room night loss By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Civil society fears bill’s ‘decimation’ CIVIL society groups have until this Saturday to provide the Government with their concerns over a Non-Profit Organisations (NPO) Bill many feel could “potentially decimate” this sector. Civil Society Bahamas, which purports to represent over 300 non-profit and civil society groups, yesterday said there were numerous sections in the bill “which raise significant concerns for the future health of the civil society sector”. In a statement, it warned that many groups will be unable to meet “the strict registration, accounting and record keeping demands” set out in the bill given that 40 percent of the industry is thought to operate on an annual budget of $25,000 or less. And it questioned whether the Registrar of Non-Profit Organisations had the capacity to be converted from an information gatherer to a regulator, expressing fears that the legislation will exacerbate the current two-year wait for registration into “a significant backlog”. As a result, Civil Society Bahamas called for the Non-Profit Organisations Bill, which was last week passed by the House of Assembly at its second reading, to be combined with the Civil Society Organisations Bill 2015 that has yet to be brought to Parliament. It is also seeking the formation of a “joint task force” to assess regulation and other issues impacting the sector. The statement said the Civil Society Organisations Bill 2015 already contains “a functional framework for the regulation, standards and accountability of the sector”, and had been widely circulated and consulted on - something it alleged had not happened with the Non-Profit Organisations Bill. Matt Aubry, the Organisation for Responsible Governance’s executive director, said: “We see great opportunity to work with the Government to expeditiously amalgamate the relevant clauses from this bill into the NPO Bill. “At a recent meeting between the Attorney General and representatives from Civil Society Bahamas and the Organisation for Responsible Governance, the Attorney General (Carl Bethel QC) was receptive to feedback and agreed to review the NPO 2018 Bill and the Civil Society Organisations Bill 2015 Bill and to consider drafting a new Bill which amalgamates the best provisions of both Bills. “To this end, he asked Civil Society Bahamas to draft a document by 15 December to advise him of the sector’s concerns regarding the 2018 Bill and provide suggestions to

* Condo owners fight Old Bahama Bay reclaim * Seek order to block Skyline/Lubert Adler deal * Ex-Ginn financier: They agreed to end lease, go Investments, the Canadian developer that is attempting to purchase the entire former Ginn sur mer development. The hotel is a vital component in Skyline’s plans, and it is unlikely to close what is thought to be a $40m deal unless it obtains free and clear title to that asset. The condo owners’ legal action, filed last Thursday December 6 - the same day that Skyline’s acquisition was supposed to close - thus threatens to delay, and potentially even derail depending on how the Supreme Court rules, a

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