Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, announced on Thursday that the government has decided not to proceed with any of the recent bids received for the Marriott Hotel as they do not reflect the true value of the hotel. During his press conference today, he said, “We in the government believe that none of the bids meet our price expectations and therefore we will not proceed with any of those bids. The Marriott will remain in the public domain as part of the government until we can get an appropriate bid that mirrors true value”.
He further noted that while the hotel will remain in under government’s control for now, it is still open to reviewing proposals from interested parties.
In December of last year, the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) had declared its intention to sell the state’s shares in Atlantic Hotels Incorporated (AHI), the state-owned special-purpose holding company for the Marriott Hotel.
The government recently closed tenders for the hotel which attracted six bidders. American businessman and entrepreneur Ramy El-Batrawi, founder of X, LLC investment group, tendered the highest bid of US$65 million. Robert Badal, owner of the Pegasus Hotel, tendered the second-highest bid of US$55.5 million for the state-owned Kingston hotel. Other bidders included Integrated Group Guyana Inc at US$55 million, Georgetown Investments and Management Services Inc at US$50M; NCB Capital Markets Limited at US$33 million, and Muneshwers Ltd at US$25 million.
Jagdeo emphasized during the conference that the government opened the bidding process with the intent to test the market and was able to see that there is huge potential. However, the current bids do not match the asset, and the government cannot settle for them. “We know what the true value will be in the current context. So, that matter should be put to rest, that we will not proceed with any of the bids because we believe that they are too low, based on the value of that asset now,” he stated.
The Vice President has persistently defended the government’s decision to sell the Marriott Hotel and has emphasized the benefits of doing so. He has noted on several occasions that it would be advantageous to sell the Marriott off, as it would enable them (the government) to maximize the price they will receive when the hotel becomes profitable. Additionally, he noted that it is important for this move to be taken before the seven new privately-built hotels, which are international brands, come onto the market.
According to Jagdeo, the decision to construct the Marriott in 2015 was a strategic one, as it was intended to stimulate investments in the hotel sector during a time when Guyana was struggling to attract such investments.
