…Nand Persaud & Company bids for all closed estates
In a surprise move, Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) announced on Thursday that it has pulled out from the race to acquire Enmore estate, which is one of the estates being divested by the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).
The East Demerara Sugar Estate, popularly known as Enmore Estate
According to the bids that the Special Purpose Unit of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) received, Guygulf International Trading Development, parent company of local subsidiary Nand Persaud and Company Limited, is bidding to acquire the Skeldon, Rose Hall and Enmore estates.
Besides Guygulf, D Rampersaud & Co Ltd has submitted a bid for the Skeldon Estate; Liberty Investments Inc has submitted a bid for the Enmore Estate; Industrial Equipment Sales and Service Incorporation (IESS) has expressed interest in acquiring Rose Hall Estate, as has Kadem Sugars Inc.
Tenders closed on October 31. Conspicuously absent is DDL, who in a statement on Friday made it clear that it decided not to submit its bid for the Enmore estate. It acknowledged the importance of the industry both to produce its rum and for sentimental reasons, but noted that its due diligence did not justify making the investment.
“There was an expectation that DDL would tender for the Enmore Estate; and in fact DDL invested considerable time and financial resources in a due diligence process to determine the level of investment required to turnaround the Enmore Estate. In fact, DDL’s interest in Enmore is driven primarily by its need for molasses for its core business as a distillery.”
However, in its due diligence exercise, DDL was unable to find a model for the Enmore Estate that would properly fit within its current investment and development strategy. Nevertheless, DDL said, it remains committed to participating, should the opportunity become available in the future.
Commenting on the issue, DDL Chairman Komal Samaroo maintained that DDL would continue to pay keen interest in the divestment. He also acknowledged the role that the SPU and overseas based accounting firm Price waterhouseCoopers (PwC) is playing.
“If the estate is sold, we will quickly engage the new owners to ensure that we secure supplies of molasses for our distillery. Should the estate remain unsold, we would equally re-engage to determine if there is a model that works for our shareholders.”
Bidders
The Florida-based Guygulf International Trading Development has as its principals Hefazul Hakh, Ragindra Persaud and Faiz Al-Abidee. While Ragindra Persaud is the Chairman of Guyana’s Rice Millers Association, he is also Chief Executive Officer of Guygulf’s local subsidiary.
Meanwhile, Liberty investments Inc is a California-based construction company that bills itself as a custom home builder. While there is no official website under the name of Kadeem Sugar Inc, this publication was able to ascertain that IESS is a US-based industrial equipment company involved in the oil and gas sector.
Following the downsizing of the sugar industry, DDL was at one time forced to turn to another country, Nicaragua, from which to import its molasses. The company had submitted an expression of interest (EoI) to Government for the potential purchase of Enmore.
At the time, Public Relations Representative of DDL, Alex Graham, had said that once the supply of molasses was threatened, it was in the company’s interest to explore options with the intention of finding a solution.
Graham had explained that when the Special Purpose Unit (SPU) was established, it had requested interested parties to submit EoIs, and DDL had submitted same. He noted that no formal proposal has been submitted otherwise.
In 2016, the operations of the LBI Estate were amalgamated with those of the Enmore Estate. Government also plans to privatise the Skeldon and Rose Hall estates.
