2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-SEVEN - Public Service (§§ 1 — 2641) › PART II - Communications (§§ 265 — 539) › Chapter 25A - Negotiation Process for the Sale of Assets (§§ 431 — 437) › § 433 - Process of sale

(a) The Negotiating Committee shall be responsible for conducting the process of sale and of negotiating the terms and conditions of said sale through the President of the Bank.
(b) The Negotiating Committee shall establish the procedures that shall rule the process of sale in order to: expedite the sale process; obtain offers from the largest number possible of potential buyers that are qualified to execute the purchase within the shortest term possible, as established in said procedures; promote competition between potential buyers; and, after considering all the relevant factors, maximize the benefits that the People of Puerto Rico shall receive. The procedures shall provide for the prompt handling of the sale. To achieve the purposes of this chapter, it is indispensable that the information relevant to the process of sale be kept confidential. The Negotiating Committee shall establish as part of its procedures the information that is to be confidential, taking into account the purpose of this chapter and the need to keep the People of Puerto Rico informed.
(c) When evaluating the proposals received, the following factors, which are not listed in order of importance, shall be taken into consideration, among others:
(1) The price and conditions of the sale;
(2) the commercial and financial reputation of the proponent, his/her financial and technical capability to conduct the telecommunications business and keep a technologically advanced and efficient telecommunications system at the service of the consumer;
(3) the financing plans of the proponent and the financial capacity thereof to execute them, including possible access to the local capital market for the purchase and sale of shares, so that the sale can be concluded in the shortest period of time possible;
(4) the probability that the proponent has of obtaining the necessary permits and approvals and to execute the purchase in a reasonably short period of time;
(5) the terms that the proponent is willing to accept in the sale contract, and
(6) the discount level to be offered to non-profit post-secondary educational institutions to gain access to the Internet during the next five (5) years, from the date in which the Federal Communications Commission authorizes the sale.
(d) After the Negotiating Committee has concluded its evaluation of the of the proposals received, and the negotiations of the President of the Bank of the terms and conditions under which the purchase shall be conducted and of the documents needed to execute the transaction with the selected proponent or proponents, the Negotiating Committee shall render a report to the Board with the specific data on the proposals received and the negotiations conducted, with its recommendation on the proposal or proposals that best meet the factors listed in subsection (c) of this section.
(e) The Board shall examine the report prepared by the Negotiating Committee and shall decide whether it shall approve or reject the recommended proposal or proposals. If it approves said proposal or proposals, the Board shall authorize the Executive Director to sign those documents needed to complete the transaction. The documents shall provide that the effectiveness thereof shall be subject to the approval of the sale by the Governor of Puerto Rico and the Legislature.
(f) Once the sales documents have been signed, the Negotiating Committee shall submit a report to the Governor of Puerto Rico summarizing the process of sale and explaining the reasons for which the recommended proposal or proposals were selected. If the Governor of Puerto Rico approves the sale under the same terms and conditions that were approved by the Board, and that are outlined in the transaction documents signed by the parties, the Governor shall remit the report prepared by the Board to the Legislature for its approval. The Governor shall also submit to the Legislature a succinct analysis of the objective criteria employed by the Negotiating Committee to evaluate the purchase offers submitted for its consideration. The Legislature shall have access to all documents and information considered by the Negotiating Committee during its process to select the proposal or proposals on the same terms and under the same conditions provided to the Negotiating Committee. It shall be understood that the sale is authorized if the Legislature, through a Joint Resolution, approves the sale under the same terms and conditions that were approved by the Board and that are outlined in the transaction documents signed by the parties. The Legislature shall provide, through a Joint Resolution, the portion of the net proceeds of the sale that shall be applied to each one of the uses established in § 434 of this title.
History —Aug. 4, 1997, No. 54, § 4.