The Royal Oasis deal remains intact, according to the attorney for a group seeking to close the deal on the purchase of the closed Freeport resort, and the attorney who represents the owners of the property.
“Theyﾒre working on the deal right now,” said Jethro Miller, who represents the purchasers “Theyﾒll be problems in any deal as complex as this one, but weﾒre proceeding.”
The Journal contacted Mr. Miller on Monday amid reports that the deal may have fallen through, but the attorney dismissed such reports as inaccurate.
In fact, he said the purchasers were in Freeport on Monday as they continued work toward closing the deal.
Mr. Miller said he expected that the deal for the sale of the property would be concluded sometime this month.
In an earlier interview, one of the principals, Seyed M. Moghani, told The Bahama Journal that while his group was incorporated solely for the Royal Oasis deal, it was made up of people experienced in property development.
Although he could not be reached for comment on Monday, he said earlier that the purchasers had already raised $170 million for the redevelopment of the Royal Oasis, which has been closed for nearly two years and he said the principals were all wealthy people.
“Weﾒre a strong group,” Mr. Moghani said at the time. “All of us have background in property development. This is not a big deal to have this project and turn it around.”
Valentine Grimes, the attorney for Lehman Brothers, the resortﾒs mortgagee, also said Monday that the deal was still on.
Concerns that the deal may have fallen through have been persistent, especially in the Grand Bahama community where many people are anxious for the Royal Oasis to re-open.
Officials of The Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union are among them.
On Monday, Lionel Morley, the unionﾒs second vice president, said he was headed to the property to see if he could get any information regarding the status of the deal given that he too had heard reports that it had fallen into trouble.
But he said he had also heard reports that the process that would lead to the re-opening of the resort was proceeding.
“I heard that they are interviewing some of the old employees and theyﾒre getting ready for refurbishment,” Mr. Morley said. “So I want to find out if this information has any validity.”
The Royal Oasis Resort was closed in 2004 after it was badly damaged in Hurricane Frances.
Since then, there had been numerous reports from government officials that they were close to sealing a deal for the sale of the property.
Several weeks ago, the Bahama Journal reported that Mr. Moghaniﾒs group, World Investments Holdings, had signed a deal with Lehman Brothers for the purchase of the resort.
Mr. Morley said the hotel union is hopeful the deal will close.
“As far as the union is concerned, the opening of the Royal Oasis is important to the community at large,” he said.
“Since the closure of the resort, Grand Bahama has been crippled economically to the point where union members and their families have lost their homes, their cars, the children had to resort to the public school systemﾅthe only thing we want for our workers is either that which they were enjoying or something similar or better.”
The government has committed to ensuring that due diligence is carried out before the deal is closed.
Prime Minister Perry Christie has assured that the government will ensure that it will approve the sale only to a group that is credible and that has the means to get the property opened and operating.
The closure of the Royal Oasis resulted in more than 1,000 Bahamians losing their jobs and contributed to driving unemployment in Grand Bahama up from 9.3 percent in 2004 to 11 percent in 2005.
In fact, government officials disappointed by the national unemployment figure of 10.2 percent in 2005 have blamed this on the layoffs in Grand Bahama, which they said affected gains made in employment in the country.
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
