NASSAU (Reuters) - British businessman Sir Jack Hayward said on Wednesday he had sold his 50 percent stake in the Grand Bahama Port Authority, the quasi-governmental authority that runs the second-largest city in the Bahamas.
Hayward did not disclose the buyer of his interest in the privately held corporation that controls much of Freeport, citing a confidentiality clause in the sales agreement. The terms of the sale have also not been announced, but Hayward described the purchasers as having "a real zeal for investment and bringing loads of money into Freeport" in comments to Reuters.
Hayward has been locked in a three-year legal battle with the estate of his late business partner, Edward St George, over claims that he owned 75 percent of the Grand Bahama Port Authority.
The St George estate contends that ownership was split evenly between Hayward and his former partner, a position backed by a ruling from the Bahamian Supreme Court.
The port authority, or GBPA, has interests ranging from property development and municipal services to airport and harbour operations and shipyard concerns.
Government officials were not immediately available for comment on the deal, which Hayward said he had disclosed to Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham on Monday.
But he said he was confident the government would not stand in the way of the sale, which could bring much needed new investment flows to the tourism-dependent Bahamas.
"These people should be very acceptable to the Prime Minister," Hayward said of the buyers. "It's probably one of the most exciting investments in the Bahamas' history," he added.
(Editing by Lincoln Feast)
