by Heather-Lynn Evanson

THE BATTLE for Barbados Shipping and Trading (BS&T) is over.

That's the word coming from the parties involved in the civil suit arising from one of the island's biggest take-over battles.

In an afternoon closed-door session before Justice Elneth Kentish in the No. 2 Supreme Court yesterday, attorneys for the Securities Commission of Barbados, Trinidadian companies ANSA McAL and Neal & Massy, the Barbados Stock Exchange and Barbados Shipping & Trading, met to resolve the issue which had been before the court since last November.

The Securities Commission had asked the High Court to determine if any laws were broken in the bidding war for local conglomerate BS&T.

In addition, it had also asked the court to rule on the legality of two developments involving the bidders – the "purported withdrawal" of ANSA McAL's takeover bid and the implications of Neal & Massy's announcement that it was tendering, to rival ANSA McAL, the BS&T shares it already held.

The court was also being asked to rule on the validity of Neal & Massy's last offer to purchase for cash up to 50 per cent of each shareholder's holding.

Yesterday afternoon, when the parties emerged, attorneys would only say the matter had been settled.

However, a release from the Securities Commission, which came through the office of Queen's Counsel Alair Shepherd, said the action brought against the two Trinidadian companies "had been resolved on terms acceptable to all parties".

"All claims by and against ANSA McAL and Neal & Massy have been resolved and the cease-trade orders have been lifted, thereby paving the way for Neal & Massy to take up and pay for the shares of the Barbados Shipping and Trading.

"All parties have made the necessary concessions to reach a compromise and have taken fully into account the overriding need to safeguard the capital market of Barbados and ensure that all shareholders are treated equally," it further stated.

The terms of settlement were recorded as an order of the court.