The government of the Bahamas has finally closed the sale of the $4.2b Baha Mar casino resort, albeit under highly favourable terms for the Hong Kong buyer.
Late last year, Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTFE) was named as the purchaser of the unfinished Baha Mar resort from the Chinese bankers that assumed control of the property following the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of its original developer, Sarkis Izmirlian’s Baha Mar Ltd.
But CTFE later announced that the deal wouldn’t be final until the property’s main contractor finished construction work on the project, leading to howls of protest from Izmirlian, who used the uncertainty to repeat his offer to reacquire Baha Mar and finish the job he started.
That ship has now officially sailed following Sunday’s announcement of the signing of a Heads of Agreement between CTFE and the Bahamian government. The deal, which was signed April 25, formalizes the earlier sale agreement and lays out each parties’ requirements to ensure the resort achieves its economic goals.