Latest update March 28th, 2024 12:59 AM
Sep 20, 2013 News
NICIL is only investor in US$58M Marriott Hotel
…moderator limits media on questions
The Guyana Government is to date the sole investor in the Georgetown Marriott Hotel given that Atlantic Hotels Inc. (AHI) is yet to have financial closure for US$39M of the US$58.5M required for its completion.
This was among the revelations made yesterday by AHI’s Chairman, Winston Brassington, during a special media briefing held at the NCN studios in Georgetown. Earlier, moderator, Kit Nascimento, attempted to limit the number of persons that could represent a media house.
When this failed, Nascimento then limited each reporter to two questions.
Brassington told media operatives that while the AHI would have executed a number of agreements with Republic Bank and the private investor, who he is still to name, there is no financial closure.
He said that AHI is looking to have this aspect of the deal concluded by year end, so that the hotel can be completed and opened toward the end of next year.
“We haven’t closed but we have every confidence it will close soon,” said Brassington.
The private investor, he said, is expected to put in US$8M in the project and will have majority ownership of AHI.
The unnamed private investor will own 67 per cent shares in the company while government will own 33 per cent.
Brassington said that the equity for the project will be coming from the unnamed private investor. Another US$4M is to be invested by the National Industrial and Commercial Investment Limited (NICIL).
The remainder of the money will be in the form of debt equity and loans.
Republic Bank has been asked to solicit a total of US$31M, to be repaid at an interest rate of 8.9 per cent, while NICIL will be lending US$15.5M with zero per cent return.
According to the Feasibility Study undertaken for the project, the Senior Debt, solicited by Republic Bank will receive payment before the preferred equity, the NICIL equity, and the NICIL debt.
As it relates to the US$15.5M lent to the project by NICIL, this will be repaid interest “when cash flows enable.”
Rate of Return
Brassington was asked to defend the fact that the unnamed private investor will only put US$8M of the US$58.5M for the hotel, and own 67 per cent of the shares.
He told media operatives that the projections in the feasibility study do not represent a guarantee and as such the rate of the return for the investor has not been guaranteed as yet.
Regarding the levels of money that Government has had to put into the project, Brassington said that the administration put the money to serve as a catalyst.
He conceded that Government would not have been able to secure the total amount required privately.
“We are participating here as a catalyst to basically crowd in an additional US$40M in investments.”
Not unusual
He said while the 22.2 per cent return for the private investor is not guaranteed, commercial banks would earn in excess of 20 per cent “so these returns are not unusual.”
Brassington further defended the rate of return to be paid to the private investor pointing to the “great deal of risk involved…It is not an attractive investment from a cash flow perspective.”
Asked about the source of the investor if he was not willing to provide a name, Brassington told media operatives, “We are limited by what we can say until we reach financial close…We will make those details available once we reach financial close.”
He did say that the investor has been vetted by Marriott International and by Republic Bank.
Asked about an independent risk analysis, apart from the actual stakeholders in the project, Brassington said that there was none and that AHI is using the various feasibility studies provided by some of the entities involved in the project.
The media was provided with ‘an extract’ of the feasibility study for the Marriott done by HVS Consulting & Valuation. There was no price tag affixed for report.
That document was dated September 2012. The contract to construct the hotel was executed with Shanghai Construction Inc, the previous year.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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