Bahamian project’s bankruptcy case dismissed

Rendering of Baha Mar in the Bahamas.
Rendering of Baha Mar in the Bahamas.

A U.S. judge dismissed a bankruptcy case by Baha Mar, owner of a stalled $3.5 billion resort development in the Bahamas.

Judge Kevin Carey of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware, ruled that the matter “is truly an international case” over which the court has no jurisdiction.

In a finding last summer, Justice Ian Winder of the Supreme Court of the Bahamas said the Bahamian government and other stakeholders in the Baha Mar development expected that the Bahamas would be the venue for insolvency proceedings.

Judge Carey agreed with that finding, which was the basis for his dismissal of the U.S. bankruptcy case of Baha Mar.

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Judge Carey made an exception for one entity that Baha Mar had put into bankruptcy, Northshore Mainland Services Inc.

Incorporated in Florida, Northshore manages U.S. operations. Judge Carey said creditors of Northshore could not have expected the company to seek bankruptcy protection in a foreign court.

Lawyers for two major creditors of Baha Mar, China Construction America and the Export-Import Bank, have argued that legal issues related to Baha Mar should be resolved by court with jurisdiction over the government of the Bahamas. [Wall Street Journal] — Mike Seemuth