By MINDELL SMALL

Guardian Senior Reporter

mindell@nasguard.com

NASSAU -- After many months of anticipation, Prime Minister Perry Christie announced yesterday that the Royal Oasis resort in Freeport now has a buyer. However, Mr. Christie did not reveal the purchaser's name.

The property had been up for sale after Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne severely damaged it in September 2004, forcing the layoff of more than 1,200 workers. It proved to be a hard sell for investors, though there was a near sale last year.

"Mr. Speaker as we speak, the representatives of the government are closing a meeting in New York," said Mr. Christie. "And at that meeting, Lehman Brothers (the financier of Driftwood Freeport Ltd, which owns Royal Oasis) and the government have agreed to a purchaser for the Royal Oasis."

Last year, Driftwood reportedly placed a $29 million price tag on the resort. The Guardian and The Freeport News later learned that the prospective buyer was only willing to offer $24 million. The $5 million difference was said to have caused negotiations to stall.

Now, confident that the deal will be sealed, the Prime Minister said, "We believe Mr. Speaker, that we have a dynamic purchaser. The terms of agreement obviously will be released in due course."

But the resort is in tremendous debt. Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe revealed earlier this year that in addition to severance pay, Royal Oasis owes $2.7 million to the Grand Bahama Port Authority and its group of companies; $2.5 million to National Insurance; $4.1 million to the Workers Pension Fund; $13 million in casino taxes; and more than $55,000 to vendors in Grand Bahama.

Responding to part of this debt, Mr. Christie said, "I am advised that the agreement (seeks) to reimburse the government of The Bahamas totally on the monies that it advanced to employees by way of redundancy payments. The government will be reimbursed in full and the balance of the monies paid to those employees who were servicing the Royal Oasis."

He added, "I therefore look forward to working out the details with the new owners as that transaction progresses to a completion."