The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The Government’s petition to wind-up Baha Mar will be heard on Friday, July 31, before Justice Ian Winder, who is expected to deliver his oral verdict on whether to recognise Baha Mar’s Chapter 11 application tomorrow.

Minister of state for legal affairs, Damian Gomez, who represents the Government in the battle over whether Baha Mar’s bankruptcy protection should be given legal effect in the Bahamas, said a key hearing in Delaware was set for August 3.

All parties agreed that the Government’s winding-up petition hearing, and whether to approve the appointment of provisional liquidators, should be heard by Justice Winder on July 31.

Winding-up/liquidation proceedings are usually heard by the Supreme Court within days of their filing. The relative ‘lack of urgency’ in the case of Baha Mar, with the hearing some 11 days out, and 15 days after the petition was filed, strongly suggests it is - in the first instance - a negotiating tactic being employed by the Government to force all parties, principally Sarkis Izmirlian, to resolve their dispute.

One source familiar with developments, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: ‘I can assure you of the Government’s thinking. They don’t expect this to go on for more than three weeks before this is back on track and at a conclusion.

“This is to shake up the parties, principally Izmirlian. It’s their intent to shake things up and get it back on course.”

The Government, like Baha Mar and its Chinese partners, is pursuing a twin track of negotiation and litigation to resolve the impasse over the $3.5 billion project.

A government statement issued last night said Baha Mar had committed to continue negotiating with its contractor, China Construction America, over a completion date for the opening of Baha Mar.

In what appears to be a phased process, the Government and China Export-Import Bank will be observers at these meetings.

If Baha Mar and its contractor agree, they will then negotiate with the bank to close new financing for Baha Mar’s completion.

That, in turn, will lead to “all-party talks” involving the Government over a comprehensive agreement that will ultimately lead to Baha Mar’s completion and opening.

The PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Advisory (Bahamas) liquidators, who have been lined up to take over at Baha Mar in a ‘worse case scenario’, are managing partner, Prince Rahming; Gowon Bowe (also the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s chairman); and Garth Calow.