— for Albion, Blairmont and Uitvlugt estates

THE National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited’s (NICIL) Special Purpose Unit (SPU) on Sunday announced that it is seeking $30B over a four-year period to provide much-needed capital injection into the Albion, Blairmont and Uitvlugt estates.

The sum will cover infrastructure maintenance, upgrades and development of new co-generation capacity to support operations of the estates and sell power to the national grid.
The unit said it is confident in its business case for GuySuCo and expects positive results with respect to securing funding for the sugar operations. It is the SPU’s responsibility to secure funding for GuySuCo’s current and short-term operations.

Earlier this month, Finance Minister Winston Jordan had announced that SPU was looking to secure a loan of $10-$15B to fund the operations of the Skeldon and Enmore sugar estates that will soon be reopened on a miniature level.

SPU took control of the Skeldon, Rose Hall, Enmore and Wales estates, when government decided to close operations early this year in order to maintain the viability of the sugar industry.

In January 2018, the SPU was tasked with having the estates valued and preparing them for sale, but Minister Jordan said that in order to add to the process of selling the estates or at least attracting a buyer(s), the two estates should be reopened.

“We cannot keep them closed and moth-balled, because when the buyers come they would probably not be as impressed as if they were working… once in operation they [investors] could also see that they are valuable properties to acquire,” Jordan told reporters.

However, on Sunday, the SPU made it clear that it is working with the management team at GuySuCo to ensure the best deals are obtained during privatisation of the estates here.
SPU’s head Colvin Heath-London, following a recent meeting, had said: “The one thing that is paramount right now is that we work together. We must work together to ensure that we get the best deal from the process for the estates put up for privatisation, and that GuySuCo is successful in turning a profit with the estates is has retained.”

Similarly, acting CEO of GuySuCo, Paul Bhim, said the closure of the estates was done to make them available for privatisation and ensure that GuySuCo becomes profitable.

GREATER GOOD
“The best way to achieve that today is for GuySuCo’s management and the SPU team to work together for the greater good,” said Bhim.

The life of the board of GuySuCo came to an end on February 14 after the Board of Directors on NICIL, in a special board meeting, made the decision to install a new board focused on the transformation of the corporation as envisioned by NICIL-SPU.
The shares in GuySuCo were recently vested in NICIL through an order signed by Finance Minister Winston Jordan.

The NICIL board also instructed GuySuCo to freeze all hiring and to not renew any employment contracts that are due to expire at this time. NICIL has begun working with the management team at the corporation to implement management changes, a statement from the SPU said on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the restarting of operations at the Enmore Estate is another form of collaboration between GuySuCo and the SPU. That estate was closed by management of GuySuCo as part of a plan to down-size the corporation.

“However, the SPU is concerned that there is cultivated cane in the Enmore Estate fields that need be harvested and processed, since it represents significant revenue potential. While the SPU will provide the management for the restarted estate, GuySuCo will provide the technical support,” the statement said.

In addition, Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) had voiced concern over the anticipated shortfall in molasses and its impact on their production and global market commitments.
The SPU and DDL have been exploring the possibility of DDL investing in the current crops in the fields at Enmore through advance payments on molasses supply, and also participating in the management of the estate to keep it as a going concern.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the international financial services provider working on the valuation of the GuySuCo assets now under the control of the SPU for privatisation, has expressed concern that in order to attract the best investors and secure the highest price for the estates, they need to be seen as fully functioning operations and facilities.

“Closed estates will not be attractive to potential investors. The deal with DDL, if approved by the boards of DDL and NICIL, would allow the SPU to meet the PwC recommendations for a quality privatisation of the estate,” the statement said.