The Tribune

• Bidder demands: ‘Shine a light’ on award

• Concerns on Investment Policy, bid criteria

• Winner: ‘We passed all the due diligence’

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

An “immediate independent audit” into the award of Lynden Pindling International Airport’s (LPIA) multi-million dollar advertising contract is being urged amid allegations it did not follow the bid criteria and National Investment Policy.

Bravo Airport Advertising, one of the unsuccessful bidders, in a statement to Tribune Business demanded that a probe be undertaken to “shine a light” into a tender process that ultimately resulted in the deal being awarded to a newly-formed company, RG Media (Bahamas).

It argued that such an audit was essential after this newspaper last week raised concerns over whether the winning bidder had the five-ten years’ advertising experience demanded by the Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD), LPIA’s operator, in the original tender document. RG Media (Bahamas) was only incorporated just over five months ago at end-May 2022.

And Bravo also raised fears that RG Media (Bahamas) “consultancy agreement” with RG Media LLC, a foreign entity, was designed to enable the latter to “bypass” a National Investment Policy that reserves advertising solely for companies that are 100 percent Bahamian owned. Tribune Business reported last week that RG Media LLC appeared to be taking the lead role in taking in the LPIA advertising deal, and was supplying all the expertise and organisational know-how.

“It is quite clear that the management team from the Nassau Airport Development Company selected a company, RG Media Bahamas, that has no advertising experience and is ultimately operated by foreign entities for the airport advertising concessionaire contract,” Bravo blasted.

“These foreign entities are using a Bahamian, Shane Garner, the financial controller at John Bull who created RG Media (Bahamas), to bypass requirements that reserve all media and advertising contracts strictly for 100 percent Bahamian- owned companies.....

“In order to hold these parties accountable now and in the future, Bravo Airport Advertising is calling for an immediate independent audit of the NAD advertising concessionaire RFP process. Our hope is that this process will shine a light on any and all conduct.... throughout this RFP process.”

Bravo’s principals are Bahamian businessman John Bethel, who held the LPIA advertising concession for ten years via his other entity, Bahamas Airport Advertising, and his son, Thomas. The two teamed for a joint venture bid after NAD decided to put the airport advertising contract, said by well-placed sources to be worth up to $3.5m per year in revenues pre-COVID, out to tender in March 2022. 

Thomas Bethel told Tribune Business the tender process became “extremely vexing”, and revealed that Bravo declined to respond to a series of questions posed to it by NAD in early September 2022 - just weeks prior to confirmation of the contract’s award to RG Media (Bahamas) - over fears it was being asked to supply proprietary information related to its bid.

“We were asked several questions at the end that we did not want to provide further detail to unless first selected,” Thomas Bethel added. “While we will have a lot more to say on the matter in the coming days and weeks, especially on the qualifications of RG Media (Bahamas), we are calling for an immediate disqualification of the award to RG Media and a full independent audit into the RFP process.”

Mr Garner, in a statement to Tribune Business, again vehemently denied allegations and suspicions that he is ‘fronting’ for RG Media’s UK parent or its US and Latin American subsidiaries. He added that, as part of the bid process, he had to swear an affidavit that RG Media (Bahamas) was 100 percent Bahamian-owned.

Affirming that his company passed “all the required due diligence”, Mr Garner said all necessary “documents and guarantees” have been provided to NAD. “RG Media Bahamas confirms that it is a fully-owned Bahamian company. The sole owner of the company was born in The Bahamas, at Princess Margaret Hospital, and is a citizen of The Bahamas,” he added in a statement. 

“It should be noted that the airport requested an affidavit of beneficial ownership. This affidavit was provided showing 100 percent Bahamian ownership. In all our workings with the airport, RG Media (Bahamas) has met all the required due diligence requested and provided all requested documents and guarantees to support any claims.”

Mr Garner, who previously told this newspaper he has no plans to leave his post at John Bull despite the contract win, added: “RG Media (Bahamas) is actively engaged in the process of hiring Bahamian talent to support its advertising programme commitments to NAD and LPIA.

“RG Media (Bahamas) has entered into a consultancy agreement with RG Media LLC. The RG Media LLC team has a proven track record of providing world-class advertising platforms in numerous airports throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. They bring decades of design, sales and marketing experience, and with their assistance, RG Media (Bahamas) will provide extensive advertising opportunities to local and international brands.

“We look forward to utilising their experience to enhance the airport advertising programme for the benefit of the LPIA, its passengers and Bahamian citizens.” However, Thomas Bethel argued that Mr Garner was only able to meet NAD’s airport advertising experience demands via RG Media LLC and Gilbert Aguiles, the US-based executive leading its Bahamian support efforts, who has worked for Clear Channel and its affiliates on similar airport deals.

Mr Aguiles last week confirmed he had been “contracted to help win the bid and to help with the build-out” of RG Media (Bahamas), but denied that himself or RG Media LLC has any ownership interest in the Bahamian entity. I was brought in as a consultant to help Mr Garner win the tender, and we are assisting in hiring a local sales presence, co-ordinating with local contractors and assisting with the establishment of the graphic houses,” he added.

While some may dismiss Bravo’s concerns as ‘sour grapes’ simply because it did not won the contract, other bidders have privately voiced similar concerns about the award to RG Media (Bahamas) and Mr Garner. A search of The Bahamas’ companies registry revealed that RG Media (Bahamas) was only incorporated on May 30, 2022 - only two months after the LPIA advertising tender was launched to potential bidders on March 24 this year.

All this raised questions over whether the company qualified to bid, as the original Request for Proposal (RFP) stipulated that the “minimum qualifications” to participate were “five to ten years’ experience in the operation of an advertising programme that includes generating high volume display advertising sales and revenue at airports”. RG Media (Bahamas) had a track record of five months.

The winning bidder also appears to be affiliated with RG Media, a UK-headquartered company bearing the same name, and which is a subsidiary of Roadgrip - a firm that has previously performed runway surfacing and paving at LPIA and other airports throughout The Bahamas.

This has sparked concerns that a foreign company is taking over LPIA’s lucrative advertising contract when the National Investment Policy stipulates that the sector is reserved for Bahamian-owned businesses only, along with questions over whether a quasi-government agency such as NAD is adhering to the Davis administration’s pledge to put Bahamians first. It could also lead to multi-million revenues, which previously circulated locally, now being taken out of the country.

“That’s what makes it strange to me,” another Bahamian rival, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Tribune Business. “How could Shane get it when he has absolutely zero experience in the market and the company was not formed when the RFP went out? Does that mean anyone can set up a company, bring in a foreign consultant and put in a bid? 

“For me, something is wrong. RG Media (Bahamas) is no relation to RG Media in the US and UK? It does not make sense. It’s the same name. Does that not show you something is not right? Does he [Mr Garner] have experience? No. How long has the company been up and running?”

The bidder told this newspaper that the advertising RFP also required the provision of prior financial statements - something it argued that RG Media (Bahamas), as a five-month newborn, would have been unable to supply. “They should have been disqualified at an early stage,” the source added. “They had no experience, no history of financials and the company was only just set up. It’s unfair to the Bahamian business owner trying to do business here.”

They said they ultimately elected not to bid because of concerns that NAD’s requirement for a $1m investment over a five-year period may not provide sufficient time in which to earn the desired rate of return. All electronic and billboard advertising displays, and related equipment, presently at LPIA is the property of John Bethel’s Bahamas Airport Advertising and faces being removed after it was not awarded the contract.

The winning bidder will now have to invest to replace this equipment, with Mr Aguiles previously disclosing that RG Media will invest $1.5m in capital upgrades at LPIA. This newspaper understands that bidders were asked to propose a revenue-sharing agreement detailing how advertising earnings would be split between NAD and themselves, along with a minimum guaranteed amount the airport operator would receive.

Vernice Walkine, NAD’s president and chief executive, in written replies to Tribune Business questions last week said it had conducted “extensive due diligence” before selecting RG Media (Bahamas). Rejecting the concerns voiced over the award, she added that the move was “in the best interests of the airport”.

The NAD chief also affirmed it was the company’s “preference to work with Bahamians first” and that it adheres to a National Investment Policy that stipulates all advertising, marketing and public relations (PR) activity is supposed to be exclusively reserved for companies 100 percent owned by locals.

Signalling that NAD was unhappy with Bahamas Airport Advertising’s performance, Ms Walkine described the relationship between Mr Garner and RG Media (Bahamas), and RG Media LLC, as a “consulting agreement” whereby the latter will be providing its expertise to assist with building out the Bahamian company’s operation and training its staff. 

However, several private sector sources have asserted that “consulting agreements” are increasingly being used as a device to enable foreign companies and investors to get around National Investment Policy restrictions that reserve certain industries for Bahamian ownership only.