After signing away his stake in the Bermuda Cement Company late yesterday afternoon Jim Butterfield lamented the tactics used to force his company into a corner – and the lack of outcry from the greater Bermuda business community.

"I'm shocked that we live in a place where Government can engineer a change of people and yet the activity can go on as before," said Mr. Butterfield, formerly the general manager.

"They (Government) put a menu in front of us that we could not meet and it was then inevitable that we had to go."

Seven minor shareholders of the Bermuda Cement Company legally transferred their shares in the company to Chris Shanks, Dennis Correia and Paul Simons at 4 p.m. yesterday.

Although the three new and three existing shareholders have no lease to operate from the twin silo plant at Dockyard, the company has gone ahead with ordering a further shipment of cement for February in the expectation that a deal will be struck with landlord Government quango the West End Development Corporation.

The new local shareholders, who join SAL, Bierman's and Cemex as stakeholders, also intend to fly to Miami in the middle of this month to speak with representatives of cement giant Cemex, which controls around 39 percent of the company.

At present it is intended to keep the name Bermuda Cement Company.

Amongst those stepping away is Mr. Butterfield, who has been involved with the company for 28 years.

Protracted negotiations between the cement company and Wedco finally collapsed in November with Wedco announcing it would no longer extend the company's lease to operate from the location.

Wedco had requested the company demolish its existing plant and build another nearby and alter the ownership of 20 percent of its shares in return for a new 21-year lease.

However, the cement company pulled back from previous agreements after it discovered a new plant would cost up to $15 million and therefore be uneconomical in return for the length of the lease offered.

With no lease to allow it to continue operating the company put itself up for sale.

Mr. Butterfield said he was surprised there had been no voice of complaint about what was happening to the cement company from any of the various business associations on the Island.

The company has existed for 43 years and been praised for its ability to keep cement prices low compared to other Island nations.

"We used the mentality that we were competing against ten alternative cement providers, even though there weren't any. So we provided a competitive service to the Island," said Mr. Butterfield.

"I'm proud of what we achieved. We did the best we could. We have left behind a good track record. I hope the new owners can manage their way through to get a new lease."

Along with Mr. Butterfield, six other local minority shareholders sold up yesterday; Stella Winstanley, Ray Constable, John White, David Goodwin, Walter Sharp and John Berg.

The new owners, together with SAL, Bierman's and Cemex, must now seek a resolution to the lease situation in order to continue operating at Dockyard.

A final cement shipment ordered by Mr. Butterfield arrived on Wednesday and that ship has now gone. Government gave permission for the cement company to bring in the shipment and sell the cement in order to avoid a disastrous drying up of bulk supplies for the construction industry.

New general manager Mr. Shanks said: "The staff are staying and the plant will be running all still the same, nothing is going to change. But yes, we still have to negotiate a lease from Wedco.

"We would hope to get a full year, or a three-year extension to give us some negotiating time."

Mr. Correia's earlier denial that he was involved in bidding for the cement company remains unexplained. Calls to the construction company director were not immediately returned yesterday.

However, Mr. Shanks indicated the group had been trying not to show its hand to rival bidders during the pre-deal negotiations and this may have been a reason why Mr. Correia had sought to distance himself from any speculation.