The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Caribbean Bottling Company (Bahamas), the Coca-Cola producer, yesterday said it was close to sealing the purchase of a new base for its Freeport operations, and expects to invest $300,000 in upgrades to the property.

Walter Wells, its president and chief executive, yesterday told Tribune Business the company expected its Freeport business to be installed in its new home within six months.

Declining to identify the location, or purchase price paid, Mr Wells said Caribbean Bottling Company had decided to move after failing to agree a price to acquire its current Grand Bahama home with the BISX-listed landlord.

He emphasised that the company’s strategy, as with its new Nassau headquarters, was to own its real estate, likening rental payments to “pouring water into the ocean”.

Caribbean Bottling Company’s Freeport landlord is the same entity that owns its former Nassau base, Premier Commercial Real Estate Investment Corporation.

Mr Wells yesterday told Tribune Business that his company’s lease of the Thompson Boulevard location was set to expire at the weekend, but the two sides had reached an agreement for Caribbean Bottling to continue renting the depot facility there until either a new tenant was found of the property sold.

“It expires in a couple of days, June 30,” Mr Wells said of Caribbean Bottling’s existing lease.

“We’re out of the main warehouse, but we have agreed with the landlord that we would continue renting the small depot next door until such time as they sell or lease it.

“It’s an interesting arrangement; it’s good for them and good for us. We have a lot of customers in the area, so it’s more convenient for them to go to that depot than drive all the way to our new headquarters.”

Caribbean Bottling now owns its head office and production facilities, located near the intersection of Gladstone Road and Sir Milo Butler Highway, and Mr Wells told Tribune Business: “The same thing is happening in Freeport.

“We are actually purchasing another building which we have to refurbish. It’s not our property just yet, but we will have to spend a lot of money to get it up to our standards.”

Mr Wells declined to identify the property or price paid on the grounds that there were “a lot of ‘i’s’ to dot and ‘t’s’ to cross”, and while the deal was “essentially done” he did not have the confirmation letter in hand.

Still, looking ahead to the upcoming refurbishments, Mr Wells told this newspaper: “Certainly, the renovation of it is going to cost me approximately $300,000. It will create a few jobs for a few people.

“Given the nature of things, I would say six months [before we move in], which is what I indicated to them.”

The Caribbean Bottling chief also disclosed to Tribune Business that he had attempted to purchase the firm’s existing Freeport home from Premier Real Estate, but negotiations ultimately proved unsuccessful.

“We were renting from the same company,” Mr Wells confirmed. “We wanted to buy the building, but couldn’t come up with a price.

“I said that if we can’t agree a price we will have to go somewhere else, which is what I did.

“I don’t want to be renting unless I have to. It’s like pouring water into the ocean.”

Mr Wells added that the Freeport move would create new permanent jobs for “a couple of extra bodies”.

Premier Real Estate’s 2012 annual financials, a copy of which has been seen by Tribune Business, value Caribbean Bottling’s current Freeport home at $650,000, based on a September 27, 2012, appraisal by Bahamas Realty.

That represents a $50,000 drop on the $700,000 valuation assigned to the property in 2011.

As for Caribbean Bottling’s former Nassau headquarters, Bahamas Realty’s September 2012 valuation of the Thompson Boulevard property dropped its valuation by 29.2 per cent year-over-year - from $5.65 million to $4 million.

All of which is not good news for Premier Real Estate.