The privatization process of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company is more than three quarters complete and the bidding process is expected to be launched within two weeks, Prime Minister Perry Christie said Sunday.
Addressing the Progressive Liberal Party’s Think Tank at the British Colonial Hilton, Mr. Christie said in opposition, the PLP had agreed to privatization. But he said at the end of the process, the government will not sell if it does not get a good deal for the telecommunications company.
“In the very final analysis, the Government of the Bahamas is going to have to make a decision if it’s going to actually sell,” he said. “We’re going through the launch, we’re going to see what will happen.
“But you can only sell if you’re going to get value.”
The Prime Minister reiterated that the bidding is not going to be limited to a foreign strategic partner.
“We are expecting that some of the bids will be a combination of Bahamian and foreign bids,” he said. “To the extent that we have changed the existing policy it will be reflected in the fact that we have no set view about a foreign strategic partner.”
Approximately $150 million has already been spent on the privatization process, Mr. Christie pointed out. He said when his government came to office, $138 million had already been spent on privatising Batelco.
Several weeks ago, the company moved a step closer to privatization with an official name change from the Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation to the Bahamas Telecommunications Company.
Under its former structure as a public corporation it would have been impossible for private interests to own any shares in the former Batelco.
But now, with the formation of a limited company, the government can sell shares to private shareholders. As a corporation, the government held complete ownership and control.
At the time of the announcement, Batelco Chairman Reno Brown said the vesting of the company marks the first crucial and very necessary step in the privatization process.
Officials of Batelco expect that the bidding process would be the next “very crucial step” in privatising the company.
At the meeting Sunday, Mr. Brown pointed out that the government intends to hold on to the majority of the shares of the company – 51 percent.
Mr. Brown said any strategic partner that purchases the company, will only obtain profits based on the earnings of the operations of the company.
The prime minister said because of all that has already been spent on preparing the company for privatization, it makes sense for the government to continue the process.
As a company incorporated under the Companies Act of 1992, the Bahamas Telecommunications Compnay Litmited is now in a position to sell 49 percent of its shares to a strategic investor.
Touching on the country’s present economic conditions, the Prime Minister also said that since September 11, 2001, the economy has been recovering, but the government remains concerned about running $20 million a month behind projected revenue.
“And so that is a substantial sum of money in terms of what is happening to the economy of the Bahamas,” he said.
The possibilities of America going to war with Iraq, means that it will be another big hit on tourism revenue.
“That is why we have had a lot of criticism and that is why as the Minister of Finance with the ultimate responsibility for the economy of the Bahamas, I have been so absolutely rigid and tight on employment, and really not having given any permission for any new employment since we’ve come to power because of the uncertainty surrounding the economy.”
