Minority shareholders of the former BWIA consider the government's offer of 20 cents a share disrespectful so they are planning on taking the government to court.However before they take that step they plan to ask the Securities and Exchange Commission to rethink its decision to stay out of the BWIA matter since the company is no longer listed as an active enterprise.
Peter Permeet, who represents the shareholders, told the Trinidad Express most of the shareholders bought the airline shares for $7.80 each, then the government sold the shares at 20 cents before delisting the company.
He said the the 20 cents price was a discounted one, noting that the last trading price for the shares was 97 cents, although BWIA was bankrupt.
Permell told the paper at least 1,800 former employees have shares in the company that they bought with their pension funds and the 20 cents offer is insulting to the former employees.
Permel said fewer than 500 of the more than 4,000 minority shareholders have accepted the discounted offer of 20 cents and the others are ready to take the fight before the courts.
Minister in the Ministry of Finance Mariano Browne has said the price is firm and the government is not going to change the offer even if the shareholders carry through with their legal threat.
Browne also made it clear that there are no plans to offer the shareholders shares in the successor airline, Caribbean Airlines.
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