The Tribune

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

and DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Staff Reporters

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis said there are “two significant” offers for the purchase of the Grand Lucayan resort in Grand Bahama that the government is mulling over.

The request for proposals process to acquire the property closed on March 2.

“The update I have, (the) Minister of Investments and Deputy Prime Minister has indicated to me that the bids are in,” Mr Davis told The Tribune on the sidelines of an event in Grand Bahama yesterday. “There (are) two significant offers that he is processing to make a recommendation to me. I expect to have that by early next week when we consider where we go with those offers.”

In a separate interview yesterday, Tourism, Investments and Aviation Minister Chester Cooper said officials will now look to begin the process of short-listing buyers over the next several days.

He said several “firm offers” were received during the RFP process.

He told reporters that when he speaks at the Grand Bahama Business Outlook on March 17, he expects to make a further statement regarding the future of the resort.

“With respect to the Grand Lucayan resort as you know the period for offers closed on March 2 at 5pm,” Mr Cooper told reporters when asked about the matter on the sidelines of Carnival Cruises’ 50th anniversary celebration.

“We do have several firm offers and we will begin the process of short listing over the next several days and I anticipate that by the 17th of March when I speak at the Grand Bahama Business Outlook, we will have an opportunity to make a further statement.

“As it stands, we do have several very credible offers and that’s all I can say today subject to the confidentiality of the matter and therefore I hope to be able to share more with you in due course.”

He also declined to speak on what monetary offers were put on the table for the resort’s purchase.

“I can tell you that the government of The Bahamas has invested $150m into the property and we are going to seek the best possible outcome for the Bahamian people.”

On Wednesday, Royal Caribbean International’s CEO and President Michael Bayley said RCI did not submit a bid during the recent RFP process.

Mr Bayley said his company is in discussions with other partners for a different project in Grand Bahama.

“We obviously had a great ambition for Grand Lucayan and then the pandemic hit and, of course, things changed quite dramatically,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

“We’re still hopeful and committed to being part of a project in the long run for Freeport obviously and we’re in discussions with the government.”

Last year, when the Davis administration announced the cancellation of RCI’s agreement with the ITM Group to acquire the resort, RCI said it looked forward to participating in the new bid process.

Regarding the proposed $200m Carnival Cruise Port in Grand Bahama, Mr Davis told The Tribune he hoped “something will be happening within the next 90 days” with that project.

“I hope to see something happening positively,” he said.