11 Hours of Auction For Limetree Bay Carry Auction Price to $50 Million; Former ABR VI Executives Join West Indies Petroleum
An hourslong bidding slugfest for Limetree Bay Refinery Friday was suspended at 11:00 p.m. AST and is set to resume today at 1:00 p.m., with West Indies Petroleum (WIP) being joined by former executives of Atlantic Basin Refining (ABR VI) — a company whose attempt to own and operate the refinery failed after being rejected by the V.I. Legislature Dec. 2014.
2021-12-20 12:45:24 - VI News Staff
The auction started at noon Friday, although actual bidding didn't commence until about 6:00 p.m. Bay Limited, which intended to dismantle the refinery, refused to change its cash bid of $3.9 million and dropped out of the bidding in the first round. The bid then became a nine-round, two-company battle, with West Indies Petroleum ending the night at $50 million, while St. Croix Energy was at $42 million.
Though WIP bid $50 million in cash, the company advised the court that it would not be able to close on the funds until Jan. 21, 2022. WIP did not give an explanation relative to why.
The Unsecured Creditors Committee (UCC), a group of contractors owed over $100 million for unpaid work at the refinery, interviewed executives of both companies, reviewed documents and before the bidding started, the committee indicated that it preferred St. Croix Energy's original bid of $20 million than the $30 million bid from WIP, with the committee suggesting that WIP's plan for possible restart could take up to two years or more, while St. Croix Energy has had a plan for a while that would see the possible restart happening in months. WIP also suggested that future financing would be uncertain. The UCC on multiple occasions, as the bid amount went up, sided with St. Croix Energy, giving a clear indication that the UCC has more confidence in SCE's ability to operate the south shore facility and resume oil refining.
Jaime Leggett, counsel for West Indies Petroleum asked St. Croix Energy during the auction process whether it had any agreements with any of the contractors from the UCC. St. Croix Energy counsel Greg Galardi said the company did not. Galardi then asked West Indies Petroleum what was the company's relationship with Excel Construction, as according to sources the largest shareholder of WIP is David Roberts who owns Excel Construction. Meanwhile, Excel Construction is owed roughly $28 million for work performed at the refinery.
Mr. Leggett originally stated that he would refrain from answering those questions, however, he later stated that David Roberts is not owed money from Limetree Bay Refinery, Excel Construction is.
Jack Thomas, who was an executive of ABR VI during the company's unsuccessful attempt to operate the refinery, has joined WIP. Mr. Thomas is part of the St. Croix Renaissance Group. Thomas Eagan, who was an attorney for ABR VI, has also joined WIP.
During a Dec. 2014 session, senators came out strong against the ABR VI-HOVENSA deal, which had the backing of outgoing governor John P. de Jongh.
The 30th Legislature spoke with almost one voice against the agreement, making known their misgivings with the deal as it stood, and railed against ABR and HOVENSA for not being on the same page on some aspects of the agreement, yet expecting the 30th Legislature to ratify it.