Lucayan Renewal Holdings Limited – the special purpose vehicle created to manage the operations of Grand Lucayan resort and oversee its sale – recently received three “credible” offers for the purchase of the resort, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments and Aviation Chester Cooper revealed yesterday, adding that he will not say more about a possible deal for the hotel until a buyer has placed funding in escrow and there is an imminent closing.
Cooper, who made the announcement at Grand Bahama Business Outlook, explained that the three offers were made by investors who have already been vetted.
Cooper said while the government could have sold the resort already – hinting that they could have taken any of the offers already made – they are waiting for the offer that will turn the Grand Lucayan into a world-class facility.
“We are committed to completing the best possible transaction for the Bahamian people,” said Cooper.
“The key is to have the resort redeveloped and the full complement of construction and operational staff employed. The key is to ascertain developmental or developing financing for the actual development. If we wanted to just sell the hotel it would have been done. The closing price is important. But the buyer’s capacity to complete the redevelopment of the resort into a property that is at a world-class standard is paramount.”
He added: “So while we remain cautiously optimistic about these prospects, we will not make any further public announcements until full due diligence is completed and funding is verified and placed in escrow, and we have a definitive imminent closing.
“I ain’t saying nothing else until the money is in the bank.”
Cooper said the sale of the Grand Lucayan is critically important to his government, contending that too much money has been spent to keep the hotel in operation while a sale is pending.
According to Cooper, the hotel currently has an occupancy of almost 90 percent.
