Government to Buy Fortis’ BEL Stake at 60% Discount

So, how much will taxpayers shell out for the government to buy Fortis’ stake in BEL? Reports say the price tag is over a quarter billion Belize dollars. When we asked the Prime Minister today, he told us to hold tight, details will come tomorrow in the National Assembly. But he did drop one hint: the government is getting Fortis’ thirty-three percent shares at a whopping sixty percent discount. Sounds like a deal, right? But will that mean cheaper electricity for you? Don’t count on it.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“I think if you would allow me to answer that tomorrow, but this is how I will put it to you, when the previous government acquired BTL it was thirty-five times earnings, the purchase. At Fortis Belize, we are getting it at six times. So, it is different at BTL. So, it is a good deal. I think a solid investment for Belize and Belizean. We are quite confident that what we are doing is the best interest of everybody. I must add that once we had the discussions with Fortis over the dam they said they wanted to sell out their shares in BEL. The previous government signed at sixty-two million dollars put option that came into place in 2019, a put option for a little sixty-two million dollars for those shares. Now that they have offered to sell to have a good negotiations, we got it down more than sixty percent on that price. We also have to fair. It is not a matter that we can beat up the employees at BEL, it is that BEL has been selling its electricity cheaper than the cost of acquiring it and obviously no business can survive like that. But I also most commend BEL that they have been trying to operate within that price range. We will have to sit down and look hard at the numbers and get out of that financial hole.”

 

Reporter

“It requires the political will to tell people that electricity rate will go up.”

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“I know that any everybody knows and I don’t need a lecture from you. It is the truth and everybody knows that. Everybody knows and our citizens understand.”