Although the prospective purchaser of the Marriott Hotel Guyana, Ramy El-Batrawi has tendered the winning bid for the state-owned edifice, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said the government is not rushing the finalisation of the deal.
Jagdeo, in his capacity as General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) during a press conference yesterday, said the government wants the technical experts to scrutinise the bid made before the deal is finalized.
“Yes, we want the negotiations for the sale of the Marriott to wrap up too, however, we want it to be concluded in a manner that reflects public scrutiny”, he told reporters at the press conference.
American businessman, El-Batrawi, has expressed frustration at the months that have passed without the conclusion of the transaction.
“I am holding on for a long time; it is hurting future investments for Guyana,” El Batrawi said in an interview with the Sunday Stabroek recently.
It has been seven months since El-Batrawi submitted the winning bid of US$90 million in a revamped invitation for the Kingston hotel. He said that he has been waiting since then and plans to visit here next month about the closing of the contract.
Although he commended the government for its work, he complained that the waiting process is tedious for the closure of what should be a simple contract.
El-Batrawi, who had the highest bid twice this year for the internationally-branded hotel chain, posited, “Dragging things out makes people lose interest.”
The response from the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) on closing the deal has been slow, taking months to respond to simple queries, he lamented. This, the businessman said, is quite frustrating since he has other investments he would like to pursue.
He continued “in the United States we turn contracts around in weeks, latest two months”. He explained that after the bid was closed on the property it was handed to NICIL to complete the process but “6-7 months later there is still no contract to close on”.
He feels they are not motivated. “They brought in attorneys that changed things which we agreed on prior…these attorneys are not deal-making attorneys but deal- breaking attorneys”, the Egypt-born US investor said.
NICIL’s last word to this newspaper was that the matter was being finalised.
Against this background, Jagdeo said that he is fully aware of this and is hoping that the negotiation process will come to an end soon.
He however disclosed that the ball is in NICIL’s court, a company wholly owned by the Government of Guyana, to negotiate with the prospective buyer.
The Vice President stressed that the government will not intervene “unduly” in that technical process unless there are pressing demands to do so.
“This company put in a bid, we have to remain faithful to the bid and our negotiators have to ensure that this country’s interests are protected in those negotiations”, he said.
According to the Vice President, NICIL will soon issue a press release on the negotiations and reiterated that the incumbent administration will not “rush” the finalisation of the deal.
“It [the deal] must be concluded in a manner that must reflect public scrutiny”, he asserted.
On September 18, NICIL announced that it had finalised sale negotiations for the hotel with El-Batrawi.
Responding to questions from Stabroek News, NICIL CEO, Radhakrishna Sharma, said that the business and operations at the hotel would continue in accord with the existing agreement with Marriott International.
“NICIL is selling its shares in Atlantic Hotel Inc (AHI). The status quo of the business and operations of the Hotel would therefore remain the same as the new owner of the shares of AHI would continue to be bound by the terms and conditions of the said agreements between AHI and Marriott International. In other words, NICIL is selling the company (AHI) as a whole, ‘as is where is,’” he told this newspaper.
“The Parties have completed negotiations of the principal terms and conditions of the sale. NICIL’s legal team has drafted the necessary transactional documents in that regard, and they were submitted to Mr El-Batrawi, whose legal team has completed their initial review,” the CEO had said.
According to Sharma, El-Batrawi possesses the resources to enhance the services and appeal of the hotel to residential, expatriate and vacationing guests, and business travellers, through innovative operating within the confines of the existing agreements between AHI and Marriott International.
Further, as per the agreements with Marriott International, the Marriott brand standard will at all times be maintained.
“In our current [emerging] oil economy, the services of the Marriott Hotel will continue to cater to the needs of our local, regional, and international guests, while remaining Guyana’s flagship hotel,” Sharma asserted.
The NICIL head added that all maintenance and development, structural and otherwise, will continue within the confines of the agreements between AHI and Marriott International that govern the business and operations of the hotel.
