TUESDAY, JULY 12, 2016
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800 job applications for new mobile player By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net CABLE Bahamas had received around 800 applications for jobs with the nation’s second mobile provider by end-last week, it was revealed yesterday, and is confident the new operator can beat its financial targets. David Burrows, Cable Bahamas’ senior vice-president of marketing, told Tribune Business there was “no question” that NewCo2015 Ltd would match the 42 per cent market share threshold typically hit by Caribbean mobile entrants within three years of start-up. He said the real issue was “how much more than that” NewCo2015 will gain, given that the BISX-listed
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
Cable confident of 42% market share beat Ex-Digicel executives to lead NewCo2015 Second operator to lodge $18.2m bond REVUniversity is officially launched communications provider had “proven” its ability to compete with the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) across all prod-
Receiver dismisses ‘uninsurable’ Baha Mar allegations
CABLE BAHAMAS HEAD OFFICE uct lines. Speaking after regulators confirmed the issuance of NewCo2015’s 15-year operating licence last week, Mr Burrows said Cable Baha-
mas was “hitting the ground running” with its new venture. The BISX-listed provider, which has Board and See PG B4
BAHA Mar’s receiver yesterday dismissed claims by firebrand FNM MP, Dr Andre Rollins, that the $3.5 billion development is both “uninsurable” and will cost a further $1.8 billion to complete. The denials by Raymond Winder, Deloitte & Touche (Bahamas) managing partner, came amid efforts by the Government - facing the prospect of a potential Moody’s downgrade to ‘junk’ status - to intensify pressure on the receivers and their Chinese clients to reach a solution to the Baha Mar impasse. Tribune Business sources
Rollins’ $1.8bn complete estimate ‘way off’ Govt said to be pushing for Macau-led bid said the Christie administration wants the group led by Dr Stanley Ho, the billionaire Macau gaming magnate, to be selected as the preferred bidder to acquire Baha Mar. The Government was said to have been applying increased pressure towards the end of June, and going See PG B5
Buyers ‘pull back’ Ex-minister: Dingman case Govt ‘out of’ new mobile ‘waste of judicial resources’ operator by early September on Moody’s threat By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net TRYING the $1.1 million damages claim against Jamie Dingman’s failed Nassau restaurant empire in New York will be “a waste of judicial resources”, a former Cabinet minister is arguing. Damian Gomez QC, former minister of state for legal affairs, has warned the New York courts that the case against Mr Dingman and his five restaurant brands will subsequently have to be tried in the Bahamas should it proceed to hear the matter. This, he alleges, is because any judgment rendered by the southern New York district court against Mr Dingman and the companies will be “unenforceable” in the Bahamas without approval from this nation’s judicial system. Mr Gomez’s arguments, laid out in a June 23, 2016, affidavit, are being employed by Mr Dingman and his US attorneys to strengthen their case that the New York action should be dismissed because the Bahamas is the best jurisdiction to hear the allegations. They are also arguing that the Bahamian court system is “less congested” than its New York counterpart, and it has “a more significant interest” given that the claims all relate to this nation’s laws. “Under the Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgments Act, judgments of a court in the US did not qualify for registration in the Bahamas,” Mr Gomez alleged in
Gomez: NY judgment may not be enforceable in Bahamas US attorneys claim Bahamas ‘less congested’ than US courts Claim Bahamian creditors ‘tagging along’ in $1.1m action his affidavit. “Therefore, an American judgment is unenforceable in the Bahamas without further judicial action.” See PG B6
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By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Government’s short-lived majority ownership of the Bahamas’ second mobile provider will end in early September, when it is replaced by private capital via an offering set to launch next month. Gowon Bowe, the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) accountant and partner, told Tribune Business that HoldingCo’s private placement memorandum (PPM) is being “finalised” for an early August release. Mr Bowe and PwC , who are acting as financial advisers to the process, expressed confidence that the offering will be fully subscribed and “get the Government” out of HoldingCo’s ownership. While declining to state the total sum that will be sought from Bahamian institutional investors, Mr Bowe said the Government See PG B5
HoldingCo investor search to launch August Advisers express optimism fully subscribed NewCo majority owner ‘fully funded’ for start-up
GOWON BOWE
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
INTERNATIONAL buyers are “pulling back” due to uncertainties caused by Moody’s threatened downgrading of the Bahamas to ‘junk’ status, realtors have warned. Mario Carey, founder of Mario Carey Realty (MCR), told Tribune Business that foreign clients were “holding off” on potential projects until they could assess the fall-out from any Moody’s action that impacts the Bahamas’ sovereign creditworthiness. “We’ve got a challenge with the downgrade by Moody’s,” Mr Carey said. “We’re seeing people pulling back on making decisions. “They were getting ready to do some stuff, and then told us they were going to hold off because they didn’t know what a Moody’s downgrade would look like. “We’re starting to see a See PG B6
Realtors: Foreign market ‘holds off’ on uncertainty Concern ‘junk’ could cost Bahamas ‘pristine image’ Region’s top market can’t be bracketed with JA
MARIO CAREY