| More questions surface on bonds for Berbice bridge roads
The performance bonds issued by Dipcon Engineering Services Ltd, to the unregistered Caricom General Insurance Inc, were placed by two insurance brokers and enquiries so far reveal that none of the brokers registered by the insurance commissioner participated. Dipcon is the contractor for the Berbice River bridge approach roads. The Berbice River Bridge is a US$40 million project that is expected to be completed in the first half of next year. Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon said on Thursday that the Berbice Bridge Company Incorporat-ed (BBCI) should also write to the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board, in relation to concerns over the issuance of the performance bonds by Dipcon. BBCI Chairperson Geeta Singh-Knight, in a letter to Public Works & Communica-tion Minister Robeson Benn last week had said: "As chairperson of the Berbice Bridge Company Incorporated I am writing on behalf of the Board, and thereby on behalf of the investors in the bridge, to express our concern about the issue of mobilization advance and performance bonds to Caricom Insurance by the contractor (Dipcon Engineering Services Ltd)…" Singh-Knight had pointed out that Caricom Insurance is not registered by the Insurance Commissioner, "Therefore we have no means of assuring ourselves as a Board responsible for the execution of the bridge project that the insurance company is adequately capitalized to support the financial commitment implicit in the roads contract, and the Commissioner has no oversight authority to ensure capital adequacy is present and maintained." .
Barrett, city try to hammer out deal on auction
SCOTTSDALE - Scottsdale and the Barrett-Jackson Auction Co. continue to negotiate an agreement to keep the collector-car event here, but the two sides disagree on the progress of those talks. Scottsdale City Manager Jan Dolan said Thursday that the two sides had a "very good" meeting last Friday, the first session since the City Council went behind closed doors in March to hammer out a negotiating strategy. Barrett-Jackson spokesman Jason Rose said Dolan's characterization of the closed-door meeting is inaccurate. .
Rare Canadian books fetch top prices at auction
A treasure of rare books about early Canada -- including some of the most important works from the age of New France and British North America -- has sold at a U.S. auction for well over $1.5 million Cdn, with several works fetching prices twice as high as expected. Hundreds of volumes from the library of the late American collector Frank Streeter were on the block Monday and Tuesday at Christie's in New York. Streeter's interest in vintage literature about the exploration and mapping of the world meant that much of his collection focused on voyages of discovery to Canada and its early history as a French and then a British colony. The demand for Streeter's books was astounding. One item alone -- a lavishly illustrated 1779 atlas of Nova Scotia, the St. Lawrence River region and the U.S.
$1.4B in Art Expected To Sell At May Auctions
Sotheby's and Christie's International may auction almost $1.4 billion of art in New York next month as collectors including David Rockefeller and the Israel Museum sell to take advantage of soaring prices. The world's two largest auction houses are stepping up marketing of impressionist, modern, and contemporary art for the May sales, which could match their record auctions in November, based on high estimates from the companies. Christie's shows works in Seoul this week, then in New York starting May 4. Sotheby's unveils highlights of its offerings in London tomorrow. New buyers from as far as Russia and China are driving up prices. Rockefeller paid $10,000 in 1960 for a Mark Rothko painting that's now valued at more than $40 million, said Sotheby's. Andy Warhol's "Lemon Marilyn" may fetch "more than $18 million" at Christie's, 72,000 times the cost of the finished work in 1962.
Coles in bidding war
TROUBLED retailer Coles Group is headed for a bidding war after the private equity consortium led by US buyout group Kohlberg Kravis Roberts provided written confirmation that it could trump Wesfarmers' $20 billion takeover proposal. Coles (cgj.ASX:Quote,News) said the KKR bid team had written to the board to confirm its continued interest in buying the company, which last year rejected an offer of $18.2 billion from the consortium, which includes private equity giants Bain, CVC, KKR, Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group and Texas Pacific. Coles chairman Rick Allert, who has tried to talk up the prospect of a bidding war for Coles (cgj.ASX:Quote,News) since the company officially put itself up for sale in February, said KKR had "indicated its confidence in getting to a price equal to or above $16.47 per share, subject to due diligence''.
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