PM dismisses BTC appointee 'conflict'

As of Thursday, March 28, 2013

Prime Minister Perry Christie.

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Perry Christie said yesterday that he plans to meet again with top Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) executives, having previously conceded that the Government had made little-to-no headway in its attempt to regain majority control at the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC).

“I am meeting with one of the leaders in the company very soon,” the Prime Minister said.

“It is a meeting we must have concerning everything. It it is a meeting we must have, and I have no doubt this is a meeting that we will have where they will come to the Bahamas and discuss what we need to discuss.

“Some time in the future, in the immediate future, I will meet the chairman and a very senior person in Cable & Wireless. That is something that has been organised.”

Mr Christie met with CWC chief executive, Tony Rice, last June. The Government’s four-member negotiating team features Arawak Homes chairman Franklyn Wilson; former BTC chief executive Leon Williams; ex-Ministry of Finance legal adviser Rowena Bethel; and ex-attorney general and key confidant of Mr Christie, Sean McWeeney.

They began face-to-face talks with their CWC counterparts back in October, as the Christie administration forged ahead with plans to regain a controlling interest in BTC. The Government currently owns 49 per cent of the company, and CWC 51 per cent.

Mr Christie added: “I appointed two members of the Board, Rowena Bethel and Bradley Roberts, and it’s a third position there. It was of some concern to the leadership of BTC that I always wanted to name Leon Williams, because Leon Williams was the defining leader when the PLP was in power, to the Board.

“I have named him, and he is now a member of the Board. I named him about a month ago. He is a member of the Board, he is fully functional.They talked about conflict, they talked about this and that; we investigated it and saw it was nothing that would cause for us to believe that.

“I think the BTC leadership, the Cable and Wireless family, must know that as Prime Minister to this point I have done everything consistent with protecting the ownership of the Bahamian people and that should be important to them. They will know what I mean by that.”

SP 11 years, 1 month ago

Everyone with common sense knows it is an understatement that the CWC & BTC deal was flawed from the beginning.

Prime Minister Perry Christie obviously has an ace up his sleeve or meeting with the top brass of CWC would be pointless. This announcement of Mr. Leon Williams appointment to the board also shuts up the naysayers about the P.M.’s ability to appoint whomever he desires.

One appoints a negotiating team based on each individual’s ability to convey specific strengths to the table.

Looking at the Government’s chosen four-member negotiating team of Arawak Homes chairman Franklyn Wilson; former BTC chief executive Leon Williams; ex-Ministry of Finance legal adviser Rowena Bethel; and ex-attorney general and key confidant of Mr Christie, Sean McWeeney, It could be rationally surmised that certain ethical and legal breaches are at the bases of these negotiations.

JohnDoe 11 years, 1 month ago

Please share with those of us with little to no common sense, the obvious flaws in the CWC & BTC deal and the ethical and legal breaches that you refer to above that can be rationally surmised.

concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago

it would be rationally surmised that certain ethical and legal breaches occured if your a die hard PLP . if your FNM DNA , or like me swear alliance to no party ,,,you have no reason to assume anything unethical occured ..just b/c PGC paid some smart and not so smart people to agitate says noithing about the illegality of the deal ..don,t you think if the deal was rife w/ legal breaches it would have come out by now ..your comments are incredibly biased

SP 11 years, 1 month ago

Perhaps the first elementary laundry list of questions for consideration one might find acceptable among other inconsistencies are:

1) Where did CWC suddenly materialized from in the first instance?

2) How did their offer compare with others on the table?

3) Who brought them through the back door & received the finder’s fee?

4) What quantitative research and or reasoning methods led the negotiators for BTC to arrive and agree to a fire sale price of less than half the value of BTC for 51% controlling shares?

5) Why would government get rid of the one person with decades of hands on knowledge and most qualified to lead negotiations? (Leon Williams)

6) Why would there be any objection whatsoever from a controlling shareholder as to whom a minority shareholder appoints to its board?

7) How was the $50M+ left on balance sheets or receivables configured into the final transaction?

8) Most importantly…..Who are the group of idiots that negotiated on behalf of the Bahamian people?

concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago

WOULD YOU RATHER IT BE SOLD TO BLUE WATER ,THE SUNSHINE BOYS , ON CREDIT ,,IF THEY WANT A CELL PH COMPANY PUT UP MONEY THE MARKETS OPEN IN 2014 ,,50 MILL WAS THE PEOPLE PENSION THAT CWC DIDN,T TEIF LIKE B SANDS ,FRITZGERALD AND FINLYNSON DID TO THE CITY MARKET EMPLOYEES ,,IN PROTEST SP ,,I DON,T THINK YOU SHOULD USE YOUR SMART PHONE W/ FOUR G THAT WOULDN,T WORK ON BTC OLD PLATFORM ,,STOMP ON THAT PHONE CURSING THE FNM AND INGRAHAM ,,LOL

concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago

do you really think that after more than 10 mons in office if there were some gross irregularities in the sale of BTC the PLP wouldn,t be shouting them from the roof tops ,,geez

JohnDoe 11 years, 1 month ago

@SP, I ask for evidence and you give me what appear to be eight trivia questions. Let’s take a cursory look at the facts. Persons with a rudimentary understanding of PE deals would know that the two most important terms in any PE deal are the terms around the economics and those around control. Starting with the economics, the Bluewater deal called for the purchase of 49% of BTC for a total face value price of $260 million. However, to properly understand the economics of this deal we must drill behind the face value price. At the end of May 2007 BTC had over $70 million in cash in the bank, therefore, theoretically this amount should be deducted from the selling price. Further, the Bluewater deal called the payment of $40 million to be deferred, interest free, for at least five years or longer to be paid out of the operating profits of BTC. Therefore, the net cash flow or price that would have been paid by Bluewater would have been $150 million plus the PV of $40 million. This round out to about a total price of about $177 million, Bluewater would have paid for 49% of the equity of BTC. The Bluewater deal was negotiated before 2008 during the height of the greatest economic bubble in the recent history where asset values were artificially inflated to historic and fundamentally unsupported levels. This was before the total collapse of the credit markets and the worst recession of the modern era. These conditions resulted in an explosion of credit spreads, a global economic contraction, massive consumer and business balance sheet deleveraging, increased global government debt and significant corrections and asset devaluations. Therefore, to properly compare the economics in terms of apples to apples, one would have to make significant adjustments for the material changes in the macro-economic environment.
With respect to control, even though Bluewater was purchasing only 49% of the equity of BTC, the agreement Bluewater had in place with the PLP gave them the power to appoint the majority of the BODs, appoint the CEO and the management team and contained favorable protective provisions that allowed Bluewater to have unfettered strategic oversight, decision making and managerial control over the operations of BTC, without having to pay for it. Further, Bluewater had no operating history, no financials, no background in the Telecomm industry and even today we still do not know who the principals behind Bluewater were. I recall that when the Atlantis deal was done, the late Paul Adderley also threatened to undo that deal. This attitude speaks to the Sovereign and country risk that companies like CWC and Atlantis face in doing any deals with our pandering politicians. Most people would say that Atlantis has been good for the Bahamas so instead of demonizing CWC and further damaging our international credibility and perception the government should either put-up or shut-up and stop being hypocritical crybabies.

concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago

extremley well put

SP 11 years, 1 month ago

One should always be very careful what one asks for, least it is actually afforded!

Providing the proof in question could result in certain persons praying deligently to remain anonymous to becoming unwittingly answerable to possible incriminating questions best left unasked and unanswered….At this juncture.

Bluewater is always the scapegoat you people try hiding behind to justify the horrendous CWC deal.

The facts are however, that, Bluewater wasn’t tangible, it was pie in the sky, an exploratory offer, and 100% irrelevant as it never happened. It only existed as pieces of paper…… Please refer to question # 2.

CWC ACTUAL operating history, ACTUAL financials and ACTUAL background in regional Telecomm industry leaves much to be desired.

An absolute idiot could have performed a half-assed due diligence investigation encompassing past and pending litigations and determined if CWC was an entity wanted as a suitable partner for The Bahamas.

concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago

please you and the PLP need to either publish the unethical aspects of the contract for the good of the country or quite yakking on about it ..As it stands 10 months , hundreds of thousands of dollars to party hacks and financial supporters ,pay back , and CWC still owns 51%..let me know when there is a news flash and names are named,,until then its just mana for the ears of the undereducated masses . As my grandaddy said " proof is in the pudding "

JohnDoe 11 years, 1 month ago

Are you aware that the Bahamian People actually had to pay a penalty to void the Bluewater deal about which you now state " Bluewater wasn’t tangible, it was pie in the sky, an exploratory offer". We may be entitled to our own opinions but not our own facts my friend.

Stameko 11 years, 1 month ago

I for one hope they do get both the Bluewater negotiators and the CWC negotiators out there. Lets have them talk about both. After all most of the new BTC committee were also the Bluewater committee. It will be fun to watch!

As an aside I thought they published the comparison of the various offers for BTC over time.

Stameko 11 years, 1 month ago

He is the comparison of offers for BTC - not straightforward

http://www.bahamaslocal.com/files/Off...">http://www.bahamaslocal.com/files/Off...

Stameko 11 years, 1 month ago

Is Leon Williams the one who authorised the purchase of hundreds of flash cars at BTC - all those Ford Freestyles at $40 thousand a pop? What would have been wrong with a Daewoo?

concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago

you don,t get as big a kickback buying less expensive more effiecent cars

banker 11 years, 1 month ago

Leon Williams was fired because of his and others endemic corruption at BTC, particularly with fixing contracts with an American company for top up technology. The board was provided with smoking gun evidence of the perfidy including a half dozen top people at BTC. The decision was made to chop the corruption off at the head. The Reverend Patrick Adderley will attest to these facts as he was on the board when the decision was made.

SP 11 years, 1 month ago

Irrelevant banter and an attempt to take refuge behind Bluewater or changing the subject to Leon Williams are not the topic of discussion & immaterial.

I am willing to engage all or anyone of you remotely capable of responding halfway sensibly to questions put forth regarding the CWC transaction, past and pending litigations, due diligence or lack thereof etc...

Address the issue at hand, stay on point, or please withdraw under your red hat and do the honorable thing and….Shut up! .

concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago

issue at hand after hundreds of thousand spent to cronies ,cwc still owns 51 % FACT ,,after 2 years of the PLP and their supporters going on about illegalites and irregularities ,not one iota of proof ...FACT ,you yourself said Bluewater was pie in the sky ,,Fact Leon Williams was fired ..SP until you name names as i did about the city market pension fund ,,,its jjust party loyalty rhetoric mostly meant to be emotive ...

concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago

FACT ,,BTC UNDER CWC control has doubled the revenue we as Bahamians recieve to the treasury ,,or maybe you enjoy paying outrages cost for votes ,like we do now with BEC ,,,whats next do you want PGC to cave to the BEC workers also ...

banker 11 years, 1 month ago

This news article is about Leon Williams, and the questions surrounding his moral and ethical fitness to be a BTC director and not about CWC transaction. That is why the PM is under siege over this patently corrupt move rife with patronage and the good-old-boy network. If BTC had been more progressive under Williams' watch, we would have had a much better Bahamas today. He had a chance to make a difference, and instead he sold out to corruption, much like the bozos in power today.

SP 11 years, 1 month ago

@ Banker......In conclusion then, you acknowledge that the bozos in power today were nominated by a stupendous landslide victory over the red shirt buffoons who were dubbed the absolute worst in the region by S&P, IMF & Moody’s ……I agree with you!

banker 11 years, 1 month ago

We were discussing the suitability of a corrupt political hack to hold a position of power in an essential infrastructure service of this country. Play partisan politics if you will, while the country suffers.

concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago

S&P ,IMF ,AND MOODYS ,never used the term "absolute worst in the region " they down graded us b/c like Obama we borrowed to get through the recession ,,by your reasoning SP, Obama is the worst U/S pres ever ..S&P and moodys are predicting further down grading for us if our tax system is not change d..your beloved PLP has borrowed 500 million in 1 year ,about half to take care of FNM debt the rest to pay our bloated civil service ,,we have been borrowing since independance so our civil service can absorb are irresponsable sexual habits and birth rate ..

SP 11 years, 1 month ago

@ concernedcitizen...Please enlighten us as to the exact "term" used by S&P, the IMF & MOODYS when describing the buffoons as the worst leaders in the region.

concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago

the S&P et all downgraded us b/c they said HAI borrowed too much ,not once in print did they call him the "'worst leader in the region " if you say they did research and find the article ..The U/S got downgraded also ,does that make their leader the worst also ..I put it to you S&P ,MOODYS .AND IMF NEVER USED THOSE WORDS THEY ANALIZE THEY DON,T MAKE JUDGEMENTAL PERSONAL STATEMENTS ,,GET REAL OR SHOW THE ARTICLE

SP 11 years, 1 month ago

Your criterion imply you concur that an equally corrupt political hack would be the former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Immigration of the buffoons known as issuing citizenships from the back trunk of his Government issued vehicle in exchange for Haitian votes which actually never materialized.

banker 11 years, 1 month ago

And this has what to do with appointing Leon Williams to BTC? Oh yes, in the same class as Shame Gibson and Anna Nicole Smith, or Vincent Peet and the closet full of money or Keod Smith fighting in the cabinet room, or Obie Wilchcombe siphoning off MOT money from an ad agency, or the missing monies from Gibson's Ministry of Housing, or the 'contracks' given to party hack Floyd who never did the work, or ... ............ ..... and we won't even go to the PLP drug runners ..... sigh ... but Williams doesn't deserve the appointment -- to stay on topic.

I am not going to argue with morally blind people any more. They will beat you down to their level and trump you with their experience. Have a very pleasant day.

SP 11 years, 1 month ago

Don’t misinterpret my motives. Sensibly arguing different points of view is healthy for the ongoing development of any democratic system and quite amusing as well, if allowed to be. It is of utmost importance that contrasting points of view are openly debated without malevolence.

Perhaps one day the country will collectively mature to the point of taking a serious look at why we continue putting our trust and future of our country in the hands of people we consider buffoons, bozos and political hacks. Good evening to you.

concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago

SP as you lose points on the debate your rhetoric becomes more childish and biased .Do you real think that if the ex DPM wanted to give Hatians passports for votes he would ride around doing it from the trunk of his car like some half bag? half gram petty hustler ..The ex DPM would have generals and such to do that on the down low ,,Everyone has a camera now ..Your story is juvinile ,do you think under the old PLP white people paid Reno Brown for their business lic.on a corner of bay street at 12 noon ,,

SP 11 years, 1 month ago

concernedcitizen 11 years, 1 month ago

as youve stated it numerous time ,reference the articles where S&P et all called HAI the worst leader in the region ,healthly debate is good ,hyperbole and making up things to bloster your opinions are not ..

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