National Hardware Limited (NHL) has bought 103 acres of land located south of the Convention Centre at Liliendaal from the Privatization Unit (PU) for $600 million and is expected to use the land for housing, recreational and commercial purposes.
In a release issued last evening, the Privatization Unit announced that the $600 million, included VAT. The land was sold “en bloc” as advertised in the press, with all land to be utilized for roads, reserves, drainage etc being to the account of NHL, as Purchaser the release said. It said too that as the buyer, NHL is responsible for constructing the access road and associated bridges.
NHL was the only bidder for the property, the PU said even as it stressed the transparency of the transaction. “The Privatization Unit wishes to state that the above sale was conducted in a fair and transparent manner in accordance with the White Paper for Privatization,” the release stated. It said that advertisements inviting tenders were published for over a month, between September and August last year. “Bids closed on the 19th October 2009 at 2:00 pm.
The tender opening was witnessed by a representative of the Auditor General,” the release said.“
The PU said that NHL’s bid was accompanied with an investment proposal. NHL has said that it will invest over $2 billion in the next five years in upgrading and developing the land.
