The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

CITY Markets' principal yesterday told Tribune Business he was aiming to close the sale of its remaining four New Providence stores to Super Value by this Friday "or Monday at the latest", added urgency coming from his attorney likely taking up a post in the new PLP government.

Mark Finlayson, head of the Finlayson family-owned vehicle, Trans-Island Traders, which holds the majority 78 per cent stake in City Markets' operating parent, Bahamas Supermarkets, said there were "no issues" holding up the proposed deal between himself and Super Value's president, Rupert Roberts.

He added that himself and his attorney, PLP MP-elect for Marathon, Jerome Fitzgerald, were going through all the transaction documents and legal papers to make sure all was in order. Super Value, he said, was being represented by R. James Cole of the Higgs & Kelly law firm.

"We're trying to close it Friday or by Monday at the latest," Mr Finlayson told Tribune Business of the deal's progress. "We're in a meeting now to close everything up.

"There are no issues; it's just making sure all the legal documents are right. There are no issues at all. We should be able to close by Friday, which is why we're pushing now."

Mr Finlayson said Mr Fitzgerald would likely "by next week have to attend to the people's business, so we're working on it right now. We're trying to see if we can get everything done from that standpoint.

"I'm pushing for Friday, but have until Monday to get it done. I don't think we'll need it. We're almost there."

Mr Roberts could not be reached for comment yesterday, but in a previous interview told Tribune Business that capital expenditure "running into the millions" would be required to re-equip three of City Markets' New Providence stores.

"Three of them need re-equipping and refurbishing, and that's going to run into the millions. If they had good equipment, and been up and running like Cable Beach, it [City Markets] would have been more valuable, but there's going to be a delays and a lot of capital expenditure to get them up," Mr Roberts told Tribune Business.

Mr Roberts also said Super Value's offer for City Markets' remaining business was "twice" what the latter's assets and goodwill were worth, disclosing that the Finlayson family had asked for "two times'" its ultimate offer.

He also revealed that Super Value had made concessions, notably revising its initial proposal to pay the final 20 per cent balance on the purchase price one year after closing.

Recalling the origins of the deal between Super Value and the Finlaysons, Mr Roberts said: "I stopped at City Markets on Prince Charles, and could see it was all over.

"I spoke to the store manager, and said: 'Look, I think it's time to speak to the Finlayson family, because this is not going anywhere'. He gave me the numbers of Rae Finlayson and Nikki Boeuf. They said: 'If you're very serious, we'd like to meet with you'.

"I collected my daughter, Candy, and said: 'Let's meet with the Finlayson family'. We got together and found everyone was very serious, and we made an offer, which we upped slightly later on."

Explaining the reason for doing so, Mr Roberts said: "What happened was the first offer said 20 per cent would be paid on the trail end, a year after getting the stores up and running. But they said they needed everything upfront to pay off the losses, so we agreed to pay it all upfront.

"They did ask for more. They asked for two times' our offer. Sir 'Tiger' said they couldn't sell for such a low price, but I pointed out that our offer was two times' what the assets and goodwill were worth, and what we were really buying was the future. Mark and the family agreed to accept our offer."