Chow Tai Fook Enterprises has confirmed the signing of a purchase agreement to take over ownership and operation of the stalled Baha Mar megaresort in the Bahamas
The Hong Kong-based conglomerate issued a statement saying it will obtain all the issued capital of Perfect Luck Assets, an entity created by Export-Import Bank of China to accomplish a sale.
No purchase price was disclosed.
EXIM, the principal financier of Baha Mar, has been in control of the US$3.5 billion project since it came out of receivership in the Bahamas last year.
CTFE said it plans a phased opening of the resort beginning in April and is in talks with Grand Hyatt, SLS Hotels and Rosewood, among others, as prospective hotel partners. An operator for the all-important casino component also is being sought.
A convention center and golf course also are planned.
As many as 1,500 Bahamians will be hired during the first phase and “thousands more” once the property is fully operational, relieving the government of a sizable political headache.
Baha Mar was promised as a transformational project for Bahamas tourism. But construction stopped at the end of 2014 amid a falling-out over costs and other problems between EXIM and contractor China State Construction on one side and the resort’s original developer, Sarkis Izmirlian, on the other. Izmirlian tried to keep control by placing the project under the protection of U.S. Bankruptcy Court but was blocked by the Bahamian government and went into receivership in the local courts.
