The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Hubert Ingraham said yesterday that the $37 million initial public offering (IPO) of a 9 per cent stake in the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) will be held "soon", adding that his administration was proud of its record in creating a "vibrant" shareholding society.

Speaking at a ceremony to mark the official opening of the $83 million Arawak Cay container port, Mr Ingraham said: "Soon BTC will also have a share offering by which 9 per cent of the shares held by the Government will be made available to the public.

"It will be sold to the public at the same price that we sold to Cable and Wireless their 51 per cent at. I encourage the public when they come out to buy shares in BTC because that, too, is a good investment."

Tribune Business sources yesterday said work to prepare for the BTC IPO is already being done behind the scenes, with RoyalFidelity and CFAL said to have been appointed as co-financial advisers and placement agents.

It is unclear, though, whether the IPO would take place if there is a change of government and the PLP takes office after the May 7, 2012, general election. The party has stated its opposition to the BTC privatisation and Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC) deal, and made noises aboit reversing some parts of it, and many observers felt the IPO would occur pre-election to act as a barrier to the PLP doing this if it retook the government.

Just over 11,000 Bahamians subscribed for the Arawak Port Development Company's $10 million IPO, with subscriptions totaling some $44.6 million. The IPO was launched back in December. The Government and private sector have each invested $20 million into the Arawak Cay Port, and with the completion of the IPO, they will each own a 40 per cent stake, with the public holding 20 per cent.

Mr Ingraham said his administration was proud of its record of creating a shareholding society. "We are proud of our record of creating a vibrant shareholding society," he added. "We are proud of having transformed traditional monopolies into engines of economic activity for a broad range of Bahamian citizens.

Mr Ingraham also used the opportunity to "set the record straight" on the shares held by the public versus those held by the Board of Directors and founding shareholders.

Mr Ingraham said: "There are some who have dedicated themselves to creating tall stories about the ownership of the port, going so far as to claim that there is a difference between the shares owned by the 19 Bahamian companies and those shares sold to the public of the Bahamas.

"There is only one class of shares in the Arawak Port development, and anyone who told you otherwise is telling you a lie, but that is not unusual nowadays in these times."

Mr Ingraham noted that that while the Christie administration had planned on moving the port to southwest New Providence, the private sector support for such a move was "luke warm" at best.

Mr Ingraham said that among the factors which led to the establishment of the port at Arawak Cay was the cost, noting that the expansion and refurbishment of the existing Arawak Cay site cost just over $80 million, versus the estimated $250 million for the establishment of the port at Clifton Pier.

"In order to commence a new port at Clifton, tariffs would have had to be raised considerably higher to support the financing of development. This would have had a direct negative impact on the cost of living," Mr Ingraham said, adding: "Arawak Cay was already being used as a port with cargo berths already in place, resulting in a shorter development timeframe."

Mr Ingraham said environmental impact studies for the development of the port at Arawak Cay also established a minimal impact.