business@tribunemedia.net
THURSDAY, JULY 20, 2023
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Fund ‘first’ targeting $100m in five years By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A Bahamian investment bank yesterday unveiled ambitions to “make a massive difference” for the economy by growing the country’s ‘first-ever’ private equity fund to $100m within five years. Michael Anderson, RF Bank & Trust’s president, told Tribune Business its newly-created Strat Equity Fund aims to fill “a huge void in the market” by providing Bahamian businesses with much-needed equity capital to jumpstart the expansion of their enterprises. Asserting that the fund’s investments into local companies could easily translate into a collective $300m injection into the Bahamian economy, as it makes these firms more attractive to banks and other debt financiers, he disclosed that the Strat Equity Fund is already working on four different acquisition/share purchase opportunities.
THE Retail Grocers Association’s president yesterday warned Bahamians that food prices will not return to pre-COVID levels and said: “The cost of operations is increasing all over the world.” Philip Beneby told Tribune Business it was presently impossible to determine what impact Russia’s decision to end the deal that allowed Ukraine to export wheat and related products via the Black Sea will have on world food prices but acknowledged it does create “some concern” for The Bahamas.
(L-R): Jim Wilson, RF Bank & Trust’s vice-president of investment banking; Jontra Harvey, regional manager of investment banking; and Michael Anderson, RF Group president.
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“It will have some impact,” he conceded. “I really can’t speak to that at this point. We would have some concerns but, at the end of it all, there’s nothing we can do about it because we are a non-producing country. We only import. We have to hope it doesn’t affect us too badly.” Russia’s move to abandon that agreement is merely the latest post-COVID headache for the Bahamian food distribution industry and its consumers. Wheat is typically milled into flour, which is then used to make a wide range of products including bread, cereals, crumpets, muffins, noodles, pasta, biscuits, cakes,
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Investor’s $2.2m San Sal hotel claim ‘unenforceable’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A US investor’s $2.239m claim against the family owners of a well-known San Salvador resort has been branded as “unenforceable” by a Supreme Court judge and rejected in its entirety. Justice Andrew Forbes, in a verdict delivered almost 11 years after the case was first tried, found that the $2m promissory note on which Kenneth Schweitzer based his claim against the Williams family, proprietors of the Riding Rock Resort & Marina ever since it was constructed in
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NASSAU CRUISE PORT
Vendors voice cruise port fears despite rent waiver The RF (formerly Royal Fidelity) chief also told this newspaper that “the multiplier effect” of that $300m could be equivalent to 10-15 percent of Bahamian gross domestic product (GDP) “once that money is put to work”, adding
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Food prices to ‘never return to pre-COVID’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
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the 1960s, was “invalid” as it failed to meet “the legal meaning and definition” of such an instrument. The dispute between the parties erupted over a deal, which was never consummated, that would have seen the American acquire a 50 percent ownership interest in the Family Island resort. Mr Schweitzer alleged that the $2m promissory note was intended to “secure the repayment” of all monies he advanced to purchase materials and furnishings for Riding Rock’s renovation. The Florida resident, a contractor by profession, argued that the April
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By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunmedia.net NASSAU Cruise Port yesterday said it had waived the first year’s rent for its marketplace tenants to help grow their businesses after several complained about the cost and lease terms they must sign up to. The Prince George Wharf operator, in a statement, said it has also brokered a deal that will enable those tenants selling “authentically Bahamian products” to meet the $1m minimum
“general liability insurance” coverage at “minimal cost”. Responding to vendor concerns, it confirmed: “To alleviate the financial burden on its Marketplace tenants, the Nassau Cruise Port is providing one year rent-free to leaseholding tenants. This unprecedented initiative allows these small business owners to focus on their growth and development without the immediate pressure of rent expenses. “The waiving of rent for a year also allows tenants to
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