The National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) has set January 10, 2023, as the deadline for interested persons to submit bids to be prequalified for the purchase of State shares in Atlantic Hotels Incorporated (AHI), the State-owned holding company for the Marriott Hotel.
According to a notice, NICIL is seeking Expressions of Interest (EoIs) from individuals or companies who may come separately or in consortiums to purchase Government shares in AHI. But in order to be prequalified, they must have financial capability.
This financial capability is defined by NICIL as a minimum net worth of approximately US$250 million, audited financial statements for the last three financial years and letters of financial capability from a recognised financial institution.
“The deadline to submit your application is 14:00 hours on January 10, 2023. After this time and date, the prequalification process will be closed. NICIL will not be accepting applications for pre-qualification after 14:00 hours on January 10, 2023,” the notice stated.
AHI is the NICIL special purpose company that owns Marriott, a 197-room hotel that opened in 2015, whose financing structure had depended on a casino and entertainment centre to make enough money to repay up to US$30 million in debts to the banks and other creditors.
But prior to the change of Government in September 2020, AHI had scrapped its plans to construct the casino, despite the previous rationale that this would make the hotel financially viable.
Atlantic Hotels Inc had previously faced several setbacks regarding the entertainment complex and casino. In 2017, an advertisement by the company stated that it was “interested to receive EoIs (Expressions of Interest) from either persons or companies, either individually or as part of a joint venture/consortium”.
AHI had said preference would be given to submissions by applicants who are established in the gaming and entertainment industry. The tender itself was eventually scrapped under dubious circumstances involving a rival casino.
While in Opposition during the 10th Parliament, the APNU and AFC had individually criticised the construction of the Marriott Hotel and other major projects undertaken by the then People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration.
They had conducted picketing exercises in front of the hotel when construction started in 2011 and also when it was being opened in 2015. In fact, during the 2015 elections campaign, the coalition party had talked about selling off the multi-million-dollar tourism flagship project as well as making it into a hospital facility.
APNU and AFC had also threatened to charge the then Chairman of NICIL Winston Brassington and Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh for their role in securing lands in Kingston for NICIL’s subsidiary AHI to construct the hotel, after they entered power.
The US$58 million Guyana Marriott Hotel was completed in 2015, the same year ExxonMobil first found oil in Guyana’s waters. The hotel has since gone on to play an important part in Guyana’s developing oil and gas sector, as it has hosted numerous events connected to the oil and gas sector.
In fact, the Government has said on several occasions that Guyana needs more rooms and hotels, to meet the demands of the growing economy. New, brand-name hotels are springing up all over Guyana, with the sod having been turned earlier this year for an AC Marriott Hotel in Ogle (East Coast Demerara) and the Sheraton Hotel in Providence (East Bank Demerara) that will together add over 300 rooms to Guyana’s hospitality industry.
Globally recognised hotel brands like the Hyatt, Hilton, and Radisson hotels have already expressed an interest in investing in Guyana. In 2020, the Government of Guyana, through the Tourism and Commerce Ministry and the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with investors for a US$90 million Hilton Hotel to be constructed at McDoom, Greater Georgetown.
