Baha Mar, a $3.5B Bahamas resort beset by construction delays, is relying on Kekst and Company for corporate communications support as it navigates Chapter 11.
The large development points the finger at its Chinese contractor, China Construction America, against which it has filed a claim in English High Court. Chairman and CEO Sarkin Izmirlian said the contractor blew through November and January deadlines, as well as a most recent March 27 date for opening.
The resort said bankruptcy protection is the "best path" to buy time to attract financing and other logistics to finish the project and open. It has lined up $80 million in financing, of which up to $30 million will be used over the next month.
Kekst president and CEO Jeremy Fielding leads the Baha Mar PR work.
Forbes reported that the contractor, backed by the Chinese government, shipped in hundreds of Chinese workers to a region already suffering from high unemployment. Local contractors were reportedly paid late and two deaths have been reported in construction.
Baha Mar, which filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware, includes a Jack Nicklaus golf course, 40 restaurants and 20 acres of beach and pool facilities. It has not released a new opening date.
Finn Partners' M. Silver unit has worked the travel PR beat for the project.
Edelman handles Viking Holdings, the river and ocean luxury cruise line that plans to raise $1B via an IPO priced in the $21 to $25 per share range.
Teneo is handling the initial public offering of CVC Capital Partners, one of Europe’s largest private equity firms with nearly $200B in assets under management.
Brunswick Group represents Endeavor Group Holdings as it agrees to go private via its acquisition by Silver Lake technology investment firm, which is handled by Edelman Smithfield.
Tod Donhauser, a nine-year veteran of Edelman, has joined H/Advisors Abernathy as managing director and head of its San Francisco office.
Intelligent Group Ltd, a Hong Kong-based financial PR firm, has priced its initial public offering of 1.9M shares at $4, which is the low end of the $4 to $5 range.
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