Bermuda Computer Services Ltd. is set to be privatised in a partial management buy-out worth $6 million.

The Royal Gazette understands that no staff will lose their jobs nor will customers be compromised as management changes - but the company is expected to no longer trade on the Bermuda Stock Exchange.

Bermuda Computer Services' chairman Donald Lines yesterday announced that the company was set to sell all of its subsidiaries for $6 million to a consortium which includes General Manager Aaron Smith and others.

The "others" are believed to be computer industry specialists and will be named after the pending sale is completed on September 25.

This sale will see $5.5 million pumped back into the parent company and will give shareholders $18 per share - more than three times the actual worth of the stock on the BSX, where it last traded at $5.50 on August 20, and has a 52 week high of $6.00.

"Since the beginning of the year we have been working on arrangements to dispose of one or more of our operating subsidiaries," said Mr. Lines.

He said in April the management had agreed in principal with this investor group to buy out the company, but now there was a "more positive indication of the possibility of concluding this sale," he said in a release to the BSX.

And now they had agreed to sell, subject to the potential group of investors getting financing, to sell all of the company's assets - BCS Holdings Ltd. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bermuda Computer Services) which own BCS Properties Ltd., BCS Agencies Ltd, and Transact Ltd.

"This non-binding Heads of Agreement contemplates completion of the sale by 25th September 2003," said Mr. Lines. "From a shareholder point of view, the net amount realised from the sale of all of our operations, after payment of legal fees and other expenses, including agency fees, should amount to just over $5.5 million, which is equivalent to a little over $18 per share."

Mr. Lines said that assuming the purchasers were able to secure the financing required, the company would expect to pay a "liquidating dividend of $10 per share some time before the end of the year out of the proceeds, with an additional distribution in the second quarter of 2004 to be paid out of accumulated earnings", he said.

Yesterday, the BSX announced it had suspended trading in the company's shares following the announcement of the pending sale.

Bermuda Computer Services had been struggling following the disastrous investment in Transact Ltd., an e-commerce company which was launched shortly before the dot com boom went bust.

But in the last year or so the company has re-focussed Transact, which now appears to be less of a burden on the company - while still taking its toll on the bottom line

The company also released its six month figures which showed that Transact lost $183,725 during this period, down from the losses a year earlier of $213,676.

For the six-month period ended 30th June 2003 the company announced it had made consolidated earnings of $121,917 compared with $30,636 in the same period last year.

The company said consolidated earnings reflected the net income of BCS Agencies Ltd. for the six months ended 30th June 2003 amounting to $324,232 compared with net income of $287,441 for the first six months of last year minus the losses from Transact for both six month periods.

BCS Properties earnings amounted to $66,458 in the first six months of this year compared with $55,854 in the first six months of 2002 and corporate expenses amounted to $85,048 for this year to date compared with $98,983 in 2002.

Total assets of the group amounted to $3,061,780 including fixed assets of $2,192,233 as at 30th June 2003 compared with $3,251,762 in 2002 including fixed assets of $2,341,218.

At 30th June 2003 the company had cash and time deposits of $385,067 compared with $514,742 at this time last year. Total liabilities amounted to $440,239 at 30th June 2003, with no long-term debt, compared with liabilities of $897,614 at 30th June 2002 including long-term debt of $428,627.