Head of Atlantic Hotels Inc. (AHI) Winston Brassington has not disclosed the name and other details of the US$8 million equity private investor into the Marriott Hotel despite giving several undertakings to make that information public before the end of 2013.
Brassington had said that the hotel is expected to be operational by August and sample rooms have been inspected and approved by Marriott.
Opposition parties in the National Assembly and other civil society actors have severely criticised the government for using public monies as part of the equity for the hotel’s construction. They have also slammed the proposals made for financing the debt aspect of the investment and the arrangements which include senior debt and syndicated loans to some of the investors.
AHI was incorporated on September 10, 2009 as a public private partnership to engage in development of the hospitality sector, including the construction, ownership and operation of a five-star international hotel. In June 2013, Brassington in response to queries by this newspaper had said that he would be later that month releasing a statement with the investor’s details. However it was not until the latter part of September that he released a statement saying that a private investor would be contributing equity in the amount of US$8 million.
Brassington had said that the investor wanted to be comfortable that all of the remaining money would be coming in before going public. He explained that the transaction had had a number of conditions precedent, one of which was that the investor had to be approved by Marriott International.
Brassington had said that AHI had executed agreements to build the Marriott Hotel in Guyana. He said that this was done after an intense due diligence study which Republic Bank Limited in Trinidad and Marriott International had conducted.
He explained that with NICIL providing just US$4 million towards the equity, the unnamed investor is the majority investor. Brassington promised to reveal the identity of the investor once the agreement reaches financial closure, which he had said was expected before the end of 2013. Republic Bank Limited is making available US$27 million, while the operator of the hotel’s Entertainment Complex, not yet identified, will provide US$4 million, which is the expected cost to outfit the complex.
Brassington had said that NICIL is responsible for putting just under US$20 million into the project and said that in addition to the US$4 million in equity, NICIL will also be putting up US$15.5 million, or one third of the debt.
He had said also that government’s investment is needed to catalyse the project, when asked why taxpayer dollars were being used for the project. Brassington had said that the practice is nothing strange. He noted then that government participation has seen the construction of the Hyatt Regency in Trinidad, the Harmony Cove Development Jamaica, the Sandals Whitehouse in Jamaica, and several others.
The hotel will have 197 rooms and house a three-part entertainment complex which includes a restaurant, a casino and a nightclub, and will fall under the brand of and will be managed by the Marriott brand under a 30-year agreement.
