Egyptian-born, American Billionnaire, Ramy El- Batrawi, who had submitted the leading bid twice to purchase the Guyana Marriott hotel under his company, has died suddenly, according to close relatives and friends.

He was in the process of finalizing the purchase of the hotel and had complained about the length of time it was taking for the Guyana Government to wrap up the process. The Government of Guyana is a majority owner of the hotel.

His death has thrown the sale of the state-owned hotel back in the spotlight, and today Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said the Government is in no rush to sell the Guyana Marriott Hotel, following the businessman’s death.

Mr. Jagdeo said it is unclear whether the company, which was owned by the billionaire will still go through with the purhase of the hotel. He said based on that decision, consideration may also be given to the second highest bidder.

“We may have to now invite in that company to see if you conclude and arrangement in the second bid and you can’t, if the bid is still not valid, the government may just decide to go back out (to tender) or keep the hotel, there is no rush to conclude anything here, because we are not desperate to sell,” the Vice President stated.

In late 2023 The National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) had accepted the US$90m bid by El-Batrawi as the winning bid for the hotel.

During a second round of bidding, X, LLC – an American investment group founded by El-Batrawi – was one of two companies that responded to NICIL’s invitation to resubmit bids with a base price of US$85M for the sale of the Marriott Hotel in Guyana.

El Batrawi, had increased his previous bid price by US$25M, and emerged as the top bidder, submitting a bid tag of over US$90M.

The Government of Guyana had rejected the first round of bids. It  was the government’s contention that all six bids submitted during that first round were not acceptable, forcing the second round of bidding with a base cost.

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