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Tuesday, January 13, 2026
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Bahamian investors target $400m for GBPA purchase • Ex-Olympian, former Senator and Rupert Roberts’ granddaughter in bid • Plan ‘new smart city by sea’ on 75,000 acres of unsold DevCO holdings • Licensee, Bahamian ownership planned through $65m initial public offer
BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN investor group featuring an ex-Olympic swimmer, former FNM senator and grand-daughter of Super Value’s owner are aiming to raise more than $400m in initial capital to finance the acquisition of the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) and its key economic assets. Nicholas Rees, chairman and co-founder of Kanoo, the digital payments provider, has teamed with attorney John Bostwick and Paige Waugh, grand-daughter of Rupert Roberts, to form Born Free Capital as a “100 percent Bahamian-owned acquisition vehicle” that is seeking to purchase both the GBPA, and its quasi-governmental
Bahamas ‘can’t wait’ on boating fee reform By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas cannot afford to wait until the endMarch Palm Beach Boat Show to unveil reforms to its boating fees and associated regulatory regime, a marina chief is warning, while arguing the sector is not opposed to fishing permits as a concept or in principle. Peter Maury, the Association of Bahamas Marinas (ABM) president, told Tribune Business that the industry’s concerns
surround the inconvenience and bureaucratic impediments created by how the new fishing permit has been implemented as he blasted the seeming disconnect between what Parliament passes into law and how this is executed by government agencies on the ground. Asserting that he is “not hopeful at all” about any revisions to the new and increased boating fees that were introduced on July 1 to coincide with the new Budget year, he added that the most he and the marina
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and regulatory powers, and the 50 percent Freeport Harbour Company and DevCO interests held by Port Group Ltd. Details of Born Free Capital’s plans are contained in a November 1, 2025, “investment presentation” which has been obtained by Tribune Business. The purchase strategy is divided into two phases, dubbed ‘Project Lionfish’ and ‘Project Grouper’ respectively, with the former focused solely on acquiring 100 percent of Grand Bahama Development Company (DevCO). This first stage would seemingly involve purchasing the 50 percent DevCO stake held by Hutchison Whampoa’s real estate arm, as well as the matching equity interest held by Port Group Ltd, which is the entity into which all the GBPA’s productive economic assets
have been transferred to. Other Hutchison interests, including the Freeport Harbour Company, would not be touched. Born Free Capital’s presentation values the whole of DevCO, and its remaining 75,000 acres of undeveloped land, at between $120m and $150m. DevCO’s acquisition is branded “crucial to unlocking” Freeport’s potential as a special economic zone (SEZ) since its 75,000 acres will form the location of a new “smart city by the sea” capable of housing the 250,000-plus people needed to staff and drive the free trade zone. The presentation, which has been issued to solicit potential investors and the necessary financing to make Born Free Capital’s plans a reality,
Bahamas is ‘a jewel ready to be polished’ BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas must “take advantage of the jewel we have” and exploit the world’s “craziness” to attract increased real estate and other investments, a top realtor is urging, while arguing that property tax should be imposed on “substantial” Bahamian-owned Out Island holdings. Mario Carey, founder and chief executive of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate MCR
Bahamas, told Tribune Business that this nation needs to further promote itself as a tax-neutral haven of stability featuring continuity of government amid all the ongoing global conflicts and geopolitical uncertainties, adding: “We are a jewel ready to be polished.” However, he asserted that the Government should again review the blanket real property tax exemption provided to all Bahamian-owned undeveloped land in the Family Islands - especially
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MARIO CAREY significant holdings held for generations by wealthy local families that have seen little to no economic or development activity. Other observers have previously described this exemption as a “major carve out” from the Government’s tax policy and revenue earnings, while suggesting that the absence of real property tax has encouraged ‘land banking’ by eliminating so-called carrying costs and thus removing any encouragement for Bahamians with
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NICHOLAS REES
JOHN BOSTWICK
PAIGE WAUGH
• Nation must exploit world ‘craziness’ to draw investors • Realtor urges end to Bahamian property tax exemption • Aims is to incentivise development and ‘not to penalise’ means to put their holdings to more productive use. Mr Carey, though, told this newspaper that the goal of removing this exemption should to be incentivise job-creating growth and investments not penalise or sanction. He added that Bahamians who sought to develop
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Gov’t eliminating VAT on all uncooked food DR DUANE SANDS
MICHAEL PINTARD
Opposition blasts Mayaguana port as ‘pre-election gimmick’ BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Opposition’s chairman is blasting the Government’s announcement of a public-private partnership (PPP) to develop Mayaguana into a cargo/logistics hub and cruise port call as “nothing more than a pre-election gimmick” designed to secure votes. Dr Duane Sands told Tribune Business the Davis administration’s tie-up with Global Lead Consultant Group, a newly-formed 100 percent Bahamian-owned entity, recalled memories of the failed $1.8bn I-Group project that was supposed to develop similar facilities
on Mayaguana as he questioned how the PPP can succeed in the face of similar challenges. These, he said, included the absence of necessary supporting infrastructure - such as utilities and roads for a project said to involve a $300m investment over a five-year period in its first phase plus a sizeable workforce on an island that has barely a 100-strong population. The Government said the PPP with Global Lead Consultant Group will generate 2,000 full-time jobs when fully operational, which is many times the island’s population size. Dr Sands was joined in his criticisms and concerns
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BY FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@ tribunemedia.net THE Prime Minister last night announced that VAT will now be entirely eliminated from all unprepared food and grocery items with effect from April 1, 2026, as the Government moved on further concessions to address cost of living concerns ahead of the upcoming general election. Going further than the half-measures unveiled almost one year ago, when the VAT rate on the same items was slashed in half from 10 percent to the current 5 percent, Philip Davis KC used a televised national address to reveal that this will now be cut to zero at Easter in a bid to offer more aid to families still struggling with high prices. Asserting that his administration has implemented a series of
PHILIP DAVIS KC measures aimed at restoring fiscal stability and reducing the cost of living for Bahamian families, the Prime Minister said VAT on uncooked and unprepared foods will now be fully eliminated. “Effective April 1, we are eliminating VAT entirely on all food sold in food stores,” said Mr Davis. “This will apply to fresh fruits and vegetables, baby food, lunch snacks, frozen foods and other groceries — everything
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