Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 84,397
Marty Offline OP
OP Offline

Ian Leiva

The sale of the Belize Sugar Industries is inching toward fruition. Negotiations for American Sugar Refining to purchase controlling shares of B.S.I. continued today at Tower Hill Factory where executives of the Belize Workers Union met with the management of B.S.I. to agree on the terms under which the union will relinquish its majority stake in the company. While the outcome of today's meeting was mutually beneficial, the B.W.U. was not able to ratify a Memorandum of Understanding since, according to B.S.I.'s Managing Director Joey Montalvo, there is insufficient time to undertake legal proceedings prior to the closing of the deal. One of the kinks that have now been cleared is that all employees have been guaranteed their jobs when A.S.R. takes over the company. Additionally, dividends in the amount of five point two million dollars will be paid out to workers over a three-year period.

 

Via Phone: Ian Leiva, Chairman, Belize Workers Union

"At nine-thirty we had a meeting with B.S.I. management and at this meeting we discussed the issues which we had from the proposals of American Sugar Refinery. The issues we had was that we wanted, they mentioned in their proposals is that they will honor our collective bargaining agreement, all side agreements B.S.I. has with the Belize Workers Union. Also we have our job security. They have guaranteed employment. There will be no redundancy and they gave us a payment plan on how they plan to pay the outstanding dividends owed to the workers which is about five point two million dollars. They mentioned that they wanted to pay two weeks after they signed fifty percent [and] on the first anniversary they will pay the thirty percent and on the second anniversary they will pay the twenty percent. What we wanted from B.S.I. was for this to be signed in a Memorandum of Understanding, an M.O.U., we want it in black and white but what we discussed this morning is that Mr. Montalvo explained to us that for a Memorandum of Understanding to be signed it is only going to prolong the process and we only have approximately about one month left, one month left to go through with this negotiation. They plan to want to sign by the thirtieth of June, but what he can do for us is give us a copy of that proposal which was presented to the Government of Belize and also to the Cane Farmers Association and the B.E.H., the board of B.E.H. which is the B.S.I. Employees Holdings Ltd. This proposal was presented to the Government of Belize so if they were to breach that proposal I would say then we can still have them taken to court that they are not doing what they agreed firstly on the proposal."

Channel 7


Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 84,397
Marty Offline OP
OP Offline

99% of Employees vote for selling B.S.I.

The ownership of the Belize Sugar Industries is about to go to foreign hands. American Sugar Refinery, the world's largest sugar refining company, is poised to seal a deal to acquire majority shares, in excess of eighty percent, in the financially beset B.S.I. This morning, representatives from ASR met with BSI's management and employees at Tower Hill where an Extraordinary General Meeting was convened. An estimated ninety-nine percent of all employees voted in favor of the buyout, a critical step because previous proposals to buy over B.S.I. had been met with resistance by the employees. The offer is for an investment of sixty-two million US dollars for forty-four million shares currently held by employees through the Belize Employees Holdings Trust. A.S.R. also proposes the payment of overdue dividends in the amount of five point two million dollars. News Five's Isani Cayetano reports.

Isani Cayetano, Reporting

The overwhelming support for the inclusion of American Sugar Refining Company, as majority shareholder in the financially embattled Belize Sugar Industries Ltd., was crystallized this morning during an Extraordinary General Meeting held at B.S.I.'s Tower Hill compound. In attendance were employees from all departments within the company, including those who traveled north from Belize City. A.S.R. representative Jonathan Bamberger was the special invited guest.

Jonathan Bamberger

Jonathan Bamberger, ASR Representative

"The world produces about a hundred and sixty-five million tons of sugar a year and consumption is growing two percent a year, that's three million tons and we see in Belize the opportunity to participate in that growth, to be a part of it. We see good land for growing cane, a mill here which has good bones, has good potential and good ability to be expanded, has good management and it's only constraint was the lack of financial resources."

On September twenty-fourth, 2010, ING Group, the global financial institution through which B.S.I. had received its loan facility, as well as First Caribbean International Bank, served notice that effective March twenty-fourth, 2011 they would no longer be funding the company. In the wake of the cancellation B.S.I. began looking for a prospective lender, to no avail.

Joey Montalvo, C.E.O., BSI Group

Joey Montalvo

"We have been unable or had been unable to secure any other commercial banks to substitute ING so we had then to search for a strategic investor. [Banco] Atlantida came on the scene [and] that is now history. American Sugar Refining subsequently followed. We have been connected to American Sugar Refining in the past, they've purchased our sugar and so that is how it all began."

And with that a series of meetings were triggered with executives of the Belize Employees Holding Trust, the legally recognized body charged with the management of monies, including the disbursal of dividends to beneficiaries, for the relinquishment of its shares in B.S.I. Those shares currently amount to eighty-one point two-nine percent of the company. Approval of the sale; however, required shareholders to vote on the matter.

Ian Leiva, Chairman, Belize Workers Union

"Today we voted on the two resolutions that were passed, one is to increase the share capital of B.S.I. and also to authorize the BEH Board to sell those increased share capitals to A.S.R."

Belizario Carballo

The sale of controlling shares in B.S.I., says Chief Financial Officer Belizario Carballo, is a complaisant agreement, one which will benefit all parties involved, including the sugar cane farmers.

Belizario Carballo, C.F.O., B.S.I.

"Here in Belize we, for example, know that there is a great potential for improvement in field productivity where we are averaging currently between fifteen to seventeen tons of cane per acre. We should be at twenty-eight tons of cane per acre and that is the scope for the growth that is out there available from the existing cane lands. And that is what as a company, as a new company we'll be targeted to develop and that will involve working along with farmers. So it's really a proposal that is not just good for employees and good for B.S.I., but it's also good for the industry because it's good for cane farmers as well because it's a proposal that includes, not just settling the debt of B.S.I. and giving B.S.I. a new beginning, a fresh beginning."

Ian Leiva

That revitalization, according to Montalvo, should commence sometime after the June thirtieth deadline when the deal is set to be completed. Part of the agreement is that dividends for the years 2006, 2007 and 2009 will be paid out to beneficiaries in installments based on a reducing balance. That total is currently at $5.2 million.

Ian Leiva

"This morning Mr. Bamberger announced that instead of taking three years to pay the full dividends owing to the workers, he has brought it up to a year and a half, eighteen months. Two weeks after they sign we will get the fifty percent, nine months later you will get the thirty and nine months after that you will get the twenty percent. So it will take approximately a year and a half and also a hundred percent for all retirees, hundred percent fully paid dividends two weeks after they sign."

Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.

B.S.I. produces about a hundred thousand tons of sugar per year.

Channel 5


Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 84,397
Marty Offline OP
OP Offline

Sale of majority shares in BSI gets full support


BSI shares sale gets thumbs up

The impending sale of majority shareholding in Belize Sugar Industries Limited continues to be the subject of discussion, particularly in the north. Love TV's Arturo Cantun reports.

LOVETV



Link Copied to Clipboard
March
S M T W T F S
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31
Cayo Espanto
Click for Cayo Espanto, and have your own private island
More Links
Click for exciting and adventurous tours of Belize with Katie Valk!
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 329 guests, and 0 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Forum Statistics
Forums44
Topics79,199
Posts500,011
Members20,460
Most Online7,413
Nov 7th, 2021



AmbergrisCaye.com CayeCaulker.org HELP! Visitor Center Goods & Services San Pedro Town
BelizeSearch.com Message Board Lodging Diving Fishing Things to Do History
BelizeNews.com Maps Phonebook Belize Business Directory
BelizeCards.com Picture of the Day

The opinions and views expressed on this board are the subjective opinions of Ambergris Caye Message Board members
and not of the Ambergris Caye Message Board its affiliates, or its employees.

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5