PHILIPSBURG--A buyer who has opted to remain anonymous won the Caravanserai resort, land and apartments at a public auction held by Tjon Ajong and Associates at Pasanggrahan Beach Hotel yesterday morning.

 

This was the third time the assets had been put on auction and they sold for some US $14 million, in comparison to the initial asking price of $20 million.

 

Two bidders purportedly were in the running for the purchase, amidst a room of around 50 people.

 

The buyer's intentions could not be established and his representative at the auction, Chris van Amersfoort of HBN Law, declined to relay any information on his client's intentions or identity.

 

Roeland Zwanikken of BZSE Attorneys at Law/Tax Lawyers who represented seller Scotiabank said the bank was happy with the outcome and happy to have the situation behind it, even though the price is $3 million below the accrued principal mortgage in addition to other costs. Kildare Properties Ltd., owner of the Caravanserai property since 1996, has a current debt with Scotiabank of approximately $17 million.

 

The property was priced at $20 million at a first auction on February 12, but there was no buyer. A second unsuccessful auction on April 3 offered the assets at a reduced $16 million. The last auction, which sold them for $14 million on August 13, advertised a "reserved price" of $12 million.

 

The bank had won a previously-filed injunction filed by International Financial Planning Services (IFPS) and summary proceedings it had filed against Kildare and its statutory owner Haresh Manek in relation to the assets concerned. Kildare had failed to meet its financial obligations to the bank on a mortgage on the Caravanserai property amounting to some $14.2 million, including interest and cost.

 

According to Scotiabank, Kildare and buyers of so-called "deductions" repeatedly had tried to prevent and thwart the auctioning of the bank's mortgage rights. Kildare had tried, illegally and without permission, to alienate long-lease rights on parcels of property, the bank claimed.

 

The Court had taken into consideration that the bank already had incurred considerable cost in its previous two efforts to sell off the long-lease rights.

Kildare had rejected the Bank's claims. However, the Court found that Kildare had defaulted in selling off long-lease rights to the previously-mentioned companies without Scotiabank's permission and, as a consequence, had harmed the bank's interests seriously.

 

This resulted in difficulties for the bank in selling off its rights of mortgage on the resort, aggravated by the fact that the land rent was "exorbitantly" increased.

 

Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure Maurice Lake had signed a decree on June 27 in which the land rent on Kildare properties was increased from NAf. 0.01 to NAf. 8 per square metre, which the Court said "frustrates the success of the auction, while no insight has been provided why at this moment it was decided to exorbitantly increase the land rent."

 

The Court ordered Kildare and Manek to cease immediately with the splitting or transfer of long-lease rights and terms, and forbade them to request Country St. Maarten's permission for such acts, against payment of $16 million in case of non-compliance.

 

As a final stage, the hotel furniture also will be sold to the highest bidder at another public auction at Caravanserai today, Thursday.