A recording of Monday’s special meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Galveston Wharves has been posted on the Port of Galveston website: http://dljstudios.com/tv-2011WB_february.html

The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm, and Hutchison Port Holdings, which operates more than 50 ports in 25 countries and handles as much as 15 percent of the world’s containerized cargo participated in the meeting. Jeff Holt of the Bank of Montreal explained that Hutchison Port Holdings and The Carlyle Group are bidding as a 50/50 joint venture at the port.
PowerPoint Presentation

“They want to come in and basically operate all of the existing properties and operations – rail, port, cruise, and future development of the gateway,” Holt said. “They would pay off 100 percent of the port’s bonds, all debt would be defeased, including all of the debt that the city has supported in the past and all of the obligations that carry their overlapping credit support.” MP3 RealPlayer

After the presentation, the wharves board met in executive session; then reconvened to unanimously authorize port staff to continue negotiations toward a “definitive agreement” with the joint venture group. Listen: MP3 RealPlayer

“Anything that is done from this point forward will require board approval,” stressed Wharves Board Chair Roland Bassett. “We are not authorizing anyone to enter into any agreements of any kind on behalf of the port.”