Four-party talks in Beijing on Monday and Tuesday yielded
'considerable progress' in resolving the dispute over the unfinished Baha Mar
Resort but ended without a deal, according to the Bahamian government.
“The remaining major point of difference between the parties
is Baha Mar’s refusal to provide their part of a guarantee required by
[Export-Import Bank of China] to secure a commitment of additional lending to
enable completion of the project,” a government spokeswoman wrote in statement Tuesday night.
Representatives from developer Baha Mar Ltd., contractor CCA
Bahamas and Export-Import Bank of China joined the five person Bahamian
government delegation led by Attorney General Allyson Gibson in the
negotiations. The Bahamian delegation was on its way back to the Bahamas
Tuesday night, according to the spokeswoman.
She said that Export-Import Bank of China is proposing $200
million in new lending to go toward completion of the $3.5 billion Baha Mar
resort, but the bank has insisted that such a loan be guaranteed by either Baha
Mar Ltd. or CCA Bahamas, which is a unit of China State Construction
Engineering Corp.
In Beijing, the spokeswoman said, Baha Mar Ltd. offered to provide a
standby letter of credit of $25 million. CCA, meanwhile, offered to guarantee
the remaining $175 million on the condition that it receives a corresponding
guarantee of $100 million from Baha Mar Ltd. But the developer has declined to
make such a guarantee, she said, and has proposed as an alternative that
the Bahamian government provide the bank with a sovereign guarantee of up to
$175 million.
Late Tuesday night, CCA issued a statement that largely mirrored
the government's report on the negotiations. The statement blamed Baha Mar CEO
Sarkis Izmirlian for not agreeing to the $100 million guaranteed.
“This is
precisely the reason a deal was unable to be consummated,” the statement says.
Baha Mar Ltd. on Wednesday rebutted the government's version of
the negotiations and accused Bahamian officials of posturing under the pretense
of being neutral observers in order to score political points.
“The facts are:
Baha Mar has made very viable proposals and discussions between the parties are
continuing. We are hopeful that a productive outcome will result," the
statement says.
The four-party talks came to a conclusion just three days
before the scheduled time of a hearing before the Supreme Court of the
Commonwealth of the Bahamas in Nassau. Bahamian Justice Ian Winder will hear
the Bahamian government's petition for the court to force Baha Mar Ltd. out of
the resort project. The government has asked the court to appoint a third party
liquidator in the company's place, which would oversee the restructuring of the
resort.
The five-hotel project, which is the most expensive in
Bahamas history, was originally scheduled to open to by the end of 2014 with
more than 2,200 new hotel rooms. Baha Mar Ltd. says the resort is 97% complete.
The government spokeswoman said that this week's talks in Beijing, “ended with
the parties agreeing to continue discussions among themselves. It was
understood, however, that in the meantime the parties might continue to pursue
other legal options.”
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This report was amended on Wednesday morning to add comments from Baha Mar Ltd.