TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2016
business@tribunemedia.net
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Govt seeking $20m for UBS House buy By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net The Government has been seeking to finance its impending acquisition of UBS House via a $20 million bond issue to Bahamian investors, Tribune Business can reveal. Providence Advisors, the boutique investment house and advisory firm, has in recent weeks been testing the capital markets’ appetite for financing the Christie administration’s purchase via the placement of debt securities. Tribune Business understands that the $20 million issue, if placed, would carry an interest rate coupon of 5.5 per cent, thus offering investors a slight premium
Providence hired to assess investor bond appetite Purchase now set to close midOctober after delays Treasury-owned SPV structured as acquirer to the Bahamian Prime rate. The bonds would also have a 15-year maturity, with the repayment of investor principal at the end of that term financed by a
‘sinking fund’, into which a portion of rental payments received from UBS House tenants will go. Financing now appears to be the major obstacle to closing the Government’s acquisition of UBS (Bahamas) headquarters building on East Bay Street, in a deal that includes the purchase of the ‘annex’ building and vacant land stretching all the way to Shirley Street. The closing date, which has been extended several times, and was originally scheduled for February this year, is now set for mid-October, Tribune Business was told yesterday. However, contacts familiar with the transaction suggested that Providence Advisors had now been asked to “stand pat”, and “hold
off” on their fund-raising drive - suggesting that the Government may be exploring alternative financing mechanisms. Kenwood Kerr, Providence Advisors’ chief executive, was not available for comment prior to press time last night, despite several messages being left for him. Simon Wilson, the Ministry of Finance’s acting financial secretary, was said to have been in a meeting when Tribune Business called, and did not return the message left for him. “As far as I know, the deal is still on,” one source familiar with the UBS House transaction said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “It has been pulled back a couple of times.” See pg b6
Hollywood demands ‘severe penalties’ for Bahamian hacker By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
Baha Mar Development Project
CCA’s $65k counter over Baha Mar work By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
Baha Mar’s major contractor has launched a $65,000 damages counterclaim against one of its former US sub-contractors, alleging that it failed to perform on two contracts relating to the project’s convention centre. China Construction America (Bahamas) has thus hit back at Novum Structures for its $555,000 demand in an earlier lawsuit, levelling exactly the same allegations that Baha Mar’s former developer, Sarkis Izmirlian, made against itself. And cynical observers may also view CCA’s defence as something of a ‘playbook’ for how the Chinese state-owned contractor may deal with its Bahamian sub-contractors if
Levels same claims made against it on US sub Alleges can’t pay until Baha Mar ‘owner’ pays This, arbitration claim, warning for Bahamian firms it is unable to resolve their claims to its satisfaction. Novum Structures, a specialist contractor that provides architectural and structural services, initiated a lawsuit against CCA (Bahamas) in early August 2016 to recover the outstanding $555,000 it claims See pg b5
Hollywood is demanding that “severe criminal penalties” be imposed against Bahamian ‘celebrity hacker’, Alonzo Knowles, when he is sentenced by the southern New York federal court on September 30. Court documents obtained by Tribune Business reveal that the US media and entertainment industry, and several celebrities, are demanding that his punishment be “significant enough” to deter others from engaging in similar activities. The documents also reveal the identities of some of Mr Knowles’ victims, including Twentieth Century Fox, one of the world’s largest movie production stu-
Fox wants ‘deterrent effect’ against GB native Sale of movie, TV scripts jeopardised ‘millions’ dios, and the actress-singer Naturi Naughton, formerly part of the 3LW R&B trio. The ‘victim impact’ statements by Twentieth Century Fox, part of News Corporation, the global media conglomerate headed by Rupert Murdoch, and another celebrity whose identity has been withheld will add to the pressure for a lengthy jail sentence for the Grand Bahama native. See pg b4
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Bahamas urged: ‘Avoid’ EU blacklisting threat By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net The Bahamas was yesterday urged to take all necessary measures to “avoid” being placed on a European Union (EU) financial services ‘blacklist’, after this nation received two ‘red flag warning’ scores. The EU, in rating 81 different jurisdictions for their co-operation on tax matters, last week ‘red flagged’ the Bahamas and nine other countries - mainly its fellow international financial centre (IFC) rivals - for having either no, or a zero rate, corporate income tax. The Brussels-based EU Commission also placed a ‘red flag’ against the Bahamas when it came to transparency and the exchange of tax information, although on the third and final criteria - the existence of a ringfenced preferential tax regime - this nation received a clean bill of health. The EU, though, made clear that the ‘scorecard’ is See pg b6
Nation ‘red flagged’ on tax exchange, no income tax Adds to OECD pressure; new negative articles awaited BFSB chief: Bahamas must ‘adapt and reposition’
Michael Patton
Receivers deny Fosun is Baha Mar’s buyer By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
Baha Mar’s receivers yesterday denied that the Chinese-based Fosun Group had been selected as the preferred bidder for the $3.5 billion project. Raymond Winder, Deloitte& Touche (Bahamas) managing partner and one of the three-strong receiver team, told Tribune Business that while Fosun was “part
Chinese group was ‘part of bidding process’ of the process” - indicating it was one of the bidders, or had at least conducted due diligence - it was not Baha Mar’s potential purchaser. This contradicts multiple Tribune Business sources who have identified Fosun, the Club Med and Cirque See pg b4