PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos (AFX) - Premier Michael Misick said Tuesday he would try to block a Canadian company's purchase of two electric utilities, arguing the companies responsible for serving most Turks and Caicos residents should stay in local hands.
Fortis Inc. announced a US$90 million (euro70,000,000) deal last week to buy PPC Limited and Atlantic Equipment and Power Limited, which together provide electricity to 80 percent of the British Caribbean territory's population -- nearly 7,500 customers.
In a letter to the local companies, Misick said their operating agreement prevents them from transferring the license without government approval. He said he was seeking legal advice from the attorney general.
Misick also said it was in "extremely poor taste and utterly disrespectful" for the companies to sell all their outstanding shares without first notifying the government.
Stan Marshall, president and CEO of Fortis, said the company did not believe government approval was necessary. He said the deal was final.
"Before we did that transaction we had legal opinions that said government approval is not required, so as far as we were concerned, none was required," Marshall said.
The St. John's, Newfoundland-based company obtained the two utilities from locally owned T.C. Energy Holdings Inc. in a deal that includes assumed debt. Fortis, which also owns electric utilities in Belize and the Cayman Islands, made the deal through a subsidiary, Fortis Energy Ltd of Bermuda.
PPC is the sole provider of electricity in Providenciales, North Caicos and Middle Caicos islands under a 50-year license that expires in 2037. Atlantic serves a fourth island, South Caicos, under an exclusive 50-year license that expires in 2036.
Misick said the utilities' employees should have been allowed to own part of the companies.
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