Baillères drags feet on Erindi purchase
OGONE TLHAGE
WINDHOEK
Erindi's Mexican suitor Alberto Baillères has not yet submitted a revised business plan that is required before the sale of the luxury game farm can proceed.
The ministry of trade indicated in June that Baillères had requested an extension to submit the bid for his planned take-over of the game farm, which has been in the market for well over seven years.
A ministerial source has told Namibian Sun that there is no indication when the document will be submitted.
“We await the substantive business plan from them to finalise the investment certificate. Remember, Covid-19 kept them at bay and with a second wave that side, there will perhaps be some further delay,” Namibian Sun was informed.
Track record
The prospective buyer is required to submit the plan to outline his intentions for the game farm, but also to ensure that he complies with the conditions stipulated by the Namibia Competition Commission.
Baillères has said he intends to preserve Erindi for future generations and ensure that it continues to provide a sanctuary and safe environment for rare and valuable species such as elephants, black and white rhinos, wild dogs, cheetahs, leopards and lions.
Baillères is the president of Mexico-based BAL Group, which has a proven track record, having operated for more than a century. BAL Group has diversified interests and Baillères has experience with managing several wildlife protection ranches in different parts of the world.
Complicated
The Erindi sale has dragged on since 2013 when the majority owner, Gert Joubert, first announced his intention to sell the 75 000-hectare ranch for N$1.1 billion.
The purchase price was later upped to N$1.3 billion but the intended sale never went through due to legal confusion over the status of Erindi's land.
In 2014 the sale was effectively scuttled as the government insisted that Erindi was agricultural land and not a tourism investment.
Over the ensuing years the legal wrangling continued but was seemingly resolved, since Erindi can only be sold to a foreigner with ministerial consent under Article 58 of the Land Reform Act.
WINDHOEK
Erindi's Mexican suitor Alberto Baillères has not yet submitted a revised business plan that is required before the sale of the luxury game farm can proceed.
The ministry of trade indicated in June that Baillères had requested an extension to submit the bid for his planned take-over of the game farm, which has been in the market for well over seven years.
A ministerial source has told Namibian Sun that there is no indication when the document will be submitted.
“We await the substantive business plan from them to finalise the investment certificate. Remember, Covid-19 kept them at bay and with a second wave that side, there will perhaps be some further delay,” Namibian Sun was informed.
Track record
The prospective buyer is required to submit the plan to outline his intentions for the game farm, but also to ensure that he complies with the conditions stipulated by the Namibia Competition Commission.
Baillères has said he intends to preserve Erindi for future generations and ensure that it continues to provide a sanctuary and safe environment for rare and valuable species such as elephants, black and white rhinos, wild dogs, cheetahs, leopards and lions.
Baillères is the president of Mexico-based BAL Group, which has a proven track record, having operated for more than a century. BAL Group has diversified interests and Baillères has experience with managing several wildlife protection ranches in different parts of the world.
Complicated
The Erindi sale has dragged on since 2013 when the majority owner, Gert Joubert, first announced his intention to sell the 75 000-hectare ranch for N$1.1 billion.
The purchase price was later upped to N$1.3 billion but the intended sale never went through due to legal confusion over the status of Erindi's land.
In 2014 the sale was effectively scuttled as the government insisted that Erindi was agricultural land and not a tourism investment.
Over the ensuing years the legal wrangling continued but was seemingly resolved, since Erindi can only be sold to a foreigner with ministerial consent under Article 58 of the Land Reform Act.
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