The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

IF Baha Mar goes into full liquidation, it could take “six months to one year” for the process to finish, Free National Movement Deputy Leader Peter Turnquest “conservatively” estimated yesterday.

However, a prominent accountant who spoke to The Tribune on the condition of anonymity said the liquidation proceedings would likely take much longer.

“Throw a year out. It’ll take them a year for them to blow their nose,” said the source.

A Supreme Court hearing into the government’s winding up petition against Baha Mar has been delayed from November 2 to November 25.

Last week, the resort’s court appointed joint provisional liquidators got court approval to make more than 2,000 workers redundant.

This has renewed fears that it will take even longer than initially expected for the stalled project to open.

Mr Turnquest said given the current circumstances, he sees little option except the property going into full liquidation.

“There’s always some possibility that China Export Import Bank would foreclose on the property and take it over and complete it,” he said.

“But what’s interesting about what the prime minister has said recently is that the completion value for the project has gone up from $300m to $600m. That’s a stunning announcement. No matter what happens, it calls into question the viability of this project.”

He added: “Save for a foreclosure or rescue, six months to a year is well within the conservative range for when liquidation proceedings could be finished. Finding an investor with enough capital and faith to bring this project to completion is the objective and there are not that many people out there, which doesn’t bode well for a quick opening.”

He continued: “They will have to find buyers for the individual properties. On the face of it, it is not going to be an easy thing to do and, of course, in liquidation rarely do you realise the full value of your investment because everyone recognises that you are in fire sale mode. The liquidator will try to sell assets either as a whole or in parts to get as much money as possible.”

In spite of the latest developments, Prime Minister Perry Christie continues to express optimism about the resort’s future.

“The kinds of discussions that my people are having with the parties would require me not to say anything at this stage,” Mr Christie told ZNS last night. “We are really wanting, we always wanted all of the parties to sit together, arrive at an amicable sort of conclusion to the talks.

“If that doesn’t happen, then we want the next best thing, whoever can in fact move forward and finish the property, we want them to do that because we want the property opened, we want Bahamians employed,” Mr Christie added.

He spoke to ZNS, the state-run broadcaster, after a meeting with officials from one of the Baha Mar branded hotels, SLS Lux.

A representative from the SLS Lux told ZNS that officials were still “excited” about Baha Mar, would “love to explore the option” of taking over the Rosewood property.

Shortly after Baha Mar filed for bankruptcy in the US, Rosewood filed a motion to sever ties with the development.

Meanwhile, Mr Turnquest said the Baha Mar debacle showed the need for more bankruptcy options and a stronger dispute resolution regime.

“This points out the defect or the lack of an alternative dispute resolution regime here in the Bahamas,” he said. “You would’ve heard about the move to make the Bahamas an arbitration centre. We have to make legitimate efforts to make that happen. Had that happened, we would’ve found a comprised solution much earlier and not have to go through the court. We have to look at our insolvency laws. If we had a Chapter 11 option here, we may have been able to find a solution where the developer maintains control and keeps existing creditors secure. Under current laws, however, there aren’t many options in terms of that kind of restructuring exercise. Once government decided to appoint liquidators, in my mind it spelled the beginning of the end. Who will put money into that? Which entity wants to have their name attached to that?”