THE sale of Trincity Mall and its commercial centre, Trincity Commercial Centre Ltd, (TTCL), is progressing.
And when that process is completed, joint liquidators are expected to approach the court for permission to begin a similar process for the sale of Long Circular Mall.
The properties are the jewels of Home Construction Ltd (HCL), a subsidiary of CL Financial (CLF), which is under liquidation which is being managed by joint liquidators David Holukoff and Hugh Dickson of the firm Grant Thorton.
In 2020, the liquidators indicated their intention to prepare the properties for divestment. In its twelfth to the court, for the period March 30, 2023 to October 20, 2023, Holukoff provided an update on their progress of CLF’s key assets under their purview as well as provide an update on the various legal matters arising from the Government’s bail out of the conglomerate in early 2009 which led to it being placed into liquidation and under the control of the Central Bank.
Justice Kevin Ramcharan is presiding over the winding up of CLF.
In the report, Holukoff said during the reporting period, the joint liquidators continued to oversee the execution and/or completion of sale agreements for assets directly and indirectly owned by CLF with a total combined value of approximately $314.6 million.
The report said in addition to that, approximately $313.2 million in cash has been recovered into the CLF liquidation estate during the period.
On the sale of Trincity Mall, the report said the liquidators received four offers for the sale in TCCL; two for the shares and two for the mall’s property assets.
The CLF Group had earlier sold HCL’s Valpark and Atlantic Plaza malls to generate cash flow for the conglomerate.
[caption id="attachment_1041583" align="alignnone" width="1024"] The Edward Street entrance of Colonial Life (Clico) head office in Port of Spain. - Photo by Ayanna Kinsale[/caption]
The report said none of the offers received were equal or higher than the approved minimum sale value set by the court in November 2011, which gave the liquidators the permission to sell TCCL shares or the mall.
The report said the liquidators analysed the binding offers and “ultimately selected a preferred bidder which HCL’s board approved on May 12, 2023.”
“Further negotiations with this selected bidder regarding sale term particulars are currently underway and are due to be agreed shortly
“Due to the offers received being lower than the minimum sale value approved by the court, it is anticipated that the joint liquidators will need to apply to the court for approval to complete the sale. “Preliminary preparations for this have been completed and a formal application will be made once a sale agreement has been finalised. “
It also said the liquidators continue to monitor and progress the sale process.
The report noted that when the sale process for Trincity Mall concludes, the liquidators’ intention is to “seek sanction for and progress” the sale of Long Circular Mall or its commercial centre, Plaza Devel
