Bahamas PM plays coy re Baha Mar buyer

The prime minister of the Bahamas insists that a deal has been struck to rescue the stalled $3.5b Baha Mar resort casino, but even he may not know who bought the white elephant.

Last week, Prime Minister Perry Christie informed parliament that Baha Mar’s receiver, the Export-Import Bank of China (EXIM), had signed a deal that would see the property’s new owner assume ownership and restart work on the unfinished project by mid-September.

However, Christie declined to reveal the name of the new owner and had the Supreme Court seal all documents relating to the sale. On Monday, Christie appeared on a local radio talk show and suggested that even his government hasn’t been informed of the buyer’s identity.

Christie insisted that there would be “full and frank disclosure” of the deal once all the details have been worked out to everyone’s satisfaction. That includes the Bahamian government, which must still “determine the fitness of the group to be able to own property in the Bahamas and to administer the property.”