ENTERTAINMENT BARON Kingsley Cooper is thought to have slapped a $75m price tag on his Trafalgar Road Entertainment Centre, in a bid to help cut the debts of his Pulse empire.
Mr. Cooper said yesterday that the Trafalgar Road property was now up for sale. He declined to give a possible sale price for the building but previous estimates valued the property at between $60 and $75 million.
"As soon as a satisfactory offer is received, Pulse will sell its Trafalgar Road property. The sale is a strategic move by the company given its current direction."
Mr. Cooper added in a statement: "Recent property disposals in the same area suggests that the market is now more receptive to prime property purchases at reasonable prices."
The property is owned by Mr. Cooper privately through his Pulse Entertainment Group, which is expected to be merged with the publicly listed Pulse Investments Ltd. As well as the show grounds, the complex includes Raquel's Restaurant, offices and a plush Penthouse apartment.
The property is currently leased to Pulse Investments under a 49-year peppercorn rent but the listed company's board has agreed to cancel the lease if property is sold.
Pulse Investments, the flagship stock market company, had its shares suspended in December 1997 by the Jamaica Stock Exchange because its September 1997 annual results were not forthcoming. The results are now more than 1,000 days late.
The Pulse empire includes 70 per cent stake in Pulse Investments, the Trafalgar Road Entertainment Centre, Villa Ronai and a 45 per cent stake in a joint venture with St. Vincent-based partner, Caribbean Enterprise Foundation (CEF), which controls event marketing company, Caribbean Imaging.
The entertainment specialist said: "The sale has the potential to make the group debt free as total bank liabilities are well within the value of the property. At worst, it would allow the Group to pay out most of its debt thereby freeing up funds, now used to service debt, to push Pulse's Caribbean and international expansion. The public Pulse Investments Ltd, is debt free, one of the benefits that flowed from the Group's recent reorganisation."
He added: The Trafalgar Road property, other than being an asset, is no longer strategically important to Pulse's long term objectives. The show venue (its principal entertainment user) has had its activities drastically curtailed. In the first instance the new night noise regulations preclude the rental of the premises for shows and secondly, Pulse's return to its core modelling and beauty business has resulted in related events being staged again in the hotel ballrooms preferred by the market."
Mr. Cooper said Pulse, "prefers to continue the development of its 9-acre Villa Ronai project" instead.
For several years Mr. Cooper's Pulse group has been undergoing a financial restructuring with various plans put forward.
In December, 1996, the Financial Gleaner revealed that Mr. Cooper had ushered in ex-bankers Oliver Holmes and Chris Williams as financial advisors to help with the refinancing.
In 1997 Mr. Cooper pushed for the National Investment Bank of Jamaica (NIBJ) and the National Development Bank (NDB) to provide $20 million for a 20 per cent stake in the group.
Soon afterwards it emerged that several of Pulse's banks appeared wary of waiting for repayment of outstanding loans. After waiting a number of months for the reorganisation to materialise, Bank of Nova Scotia, which Mr. Cooper said was owed $4 million, put eco-tourism project Villa Ronai up for auction but it was later withdrawn.
