The Tribune

Genting’s BB Entertainment subsidiary is investing $24.6 million to acquire a 6.6 hectare site upon which it is building a new 307-room hotel in Bimini.

Genting revealed the acquisition, from the Capo Group subsidiary, RAV Bahamas, in a filing to the Malaysian stock exchange late last week. BB Entertainment is said to be 70 per cent owned by Genting, and 30 per cent owned by RAV Bahamas.

“By acquiring the land, Genting Group will have better control in terms of planning for future development and expansion,” Genting said in the filing. The site is adjacent to the existing Resorts World property.

The purchase will come as little surprise, given that Genting’s Resorts World brand took over operations at Bimini Bay last year. It is thus merely an extension of the Malaysian conglomerate’s development plans, and indicates it is becoming more certain and confident about its involvement in Bimini.

The purchase also indicates that Genting may be around in Bimini for the long-term, and is not a short-term, speculative investor as some of its critics have suggested.

The developers have also managed to thwart a legal challenge by the Bimini Blue Coalition, the environmental activists, which opposed the new cruise terminal and 1,000 foot jetty.

The Coalition, though, argued that it was ‘priced out of justice’ by court rulings that it must pay more than $300,000 as security for the Government and Resorts World’s legal costs.