By FAY SIMMONS

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

Bahamian investors seeking a stake in Royal Caribbean’s $110m Paradise Island project will likely have to wait until 2026 as the company finalises the legal and regulatory process for the planned initial public offering (IPO) of shares.

Philip Simon, the cruise line’s president for both its Royal Beach Club project and overall Bahamian operations, said it remains “1,000 percent committed” to offering equity ownership in the development to private Bahamian investors.

Speaking at a Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC) event yesterday, Mr Simon said the exact financial and legal details for the offering are still being finalised, and the Government is fully aware and involved in the process.

He added that while partnerships have occurred in the past, the Royal Beach Club has the potential to make a broader impact on Bahamian ownership in the tourism sector.

“We are 1,000 percent committed to the critical partnership of that 49 percent/51 percent split. To me, that is probably the most exciting opportunity to bring into the ownership of the Beach Club, hopefully thousands of Bahamians,” said Mr Simon.

“I cannot speak to the details of the numbers - the question that was asked - because that's all being worked out with the fund administrator and the partner that we will be announcing very soon. We have been in communication with the Government. That is a process that we would have gone through because, obviously, there have been other partnerships that have been done, but this one is a little bit different in terms of its overall impact.”

Mr Simon said while Royal Caribbean is working diligently to complete the legal and regulatory requirements, there is a possibility the IPO could be delayed into 2026. The timeline depends on completing all necessary steps with the Securities Commission, the Office of the Attorney General and other regulatory bodies. 

“The intent is still to push as hard as we can to a timeline that that gets us there quickest. There may be a possibility that we slip into 2026. We are still committed to having this equity opportunity for Bahamians offered. If we can get there before we open, great, but just being real with the process there might be potential for that to go into 2026,” said Mr Simon.

He explained that the final stages involve multiple  elements, including finalising the business plan, determining the price at  which shares will be issued, and co-ordinating with the fund administrator and government officials.

“There's the Securities Commission, there's the final touches with the Office of the Attorney General, there's the business plan itself, there's the pricing. There's all of these intricacies to consider with that, and I think we're just about there in terms of that part of it. So now it needs to matriculate through the final legal and the Securities Commission process,” he added.

The last proposal was for Royal Caribbean to have a majority 51 percent ownership interest in the Royal Beach Club, with the remaining 49 percent equity stake to be split between the Government and Bahamian retail and institutional investors. The size of the Government’s interest was to be based on the value of the four Crown Land acres it was contributing to the project’s total 17 acres.

Once the value of this land was appraised, the size and value of the collective equity raise from Bahamian investors was to be determined. It was thought the IPO would take a similar form to the Nassau Cruise Port offering, where investors acquired shares in an investment/mutual fund that will own the collective local interest in the Royal Beach Club.