Super Value owner Rupert Roberts and Bahamas Supermarkets Limited (BSL) President Mark Finlayson both confirmed yesterday that Super Value was seriously eyeing purchasing the five-store City Market chain.
“That is likely the company who we will go with. There’s a deal going on,” said Finlayson, who heads Trans-Island Traders, which holds a majority stake in Bahamas Supermarkets, the parent company of City Market stores.
Roberts told The Nassau Guardian he spoke with Finlayson yesterday and the day before about the possible acquisition.
But the Super Value president said,”It’s too early in the game to say what the final outcome will be.
“It’s very detailed and complicated and there’s a lot that has to be worked through.”
In an interview withThe Nassau Guardian several months ago, Finlayson said the company was losing money, but he said the Finlayson family–which acquired the company in late 2010–was determined to turn things around.
The owners of City Market and the union that represents employees were scheduled to meet on Thursday evening to discuss the future of the company, but Minister of Labour Dion Foulkes said yesterday he had not received any reports yet on the outcome of that meeting.
Foulkes said previously the government would do all that it can to protect City Market employees’rights and interests.
Meanwhile, more than 300 City Market employees remained jittery yesterday over the security of their jobs and their pension fund.
Last September, Finlayson assured that the pension fund of City Market employees remained sound.
He said measures were being taken to ensure it remained viable for many years to come.
In an interview with The Nassau Guardian, Finlayson said the trustees of Bahamas Supermarkets Employee Retirement Fund were looking for a buyer for the building on East West Highway that is the headquarters of Bahamas Supermarkets.
He said former owners of the City Market chain used$3 million from the pension money and invested in equipment at the Cable Beach store.
“The employees shouldn’t sit down and worry if something happens to BSL whether or not they are going to lose their pensions,” Finlayson said at the time. “They will not lose their pensions because the point is the building is there.”
By: Candia Dames
The Nassau Guardian News Editor
