Some of the 40 jobs hanging in the balance by the pending closure of Canber Saber Ltd. have been saved as a new company emerged this week in the electrical design and installation business.

The new company, The Elite Group of Companies, is a merger between Air Care Power and Elite Electrical Engineering Ltd., and was announced yesterday.

A press statement making the announcement said Air Care had been approached by the receivers of Canber Saber to take over existing contracts -- and offer employment to Canber Saber employees.

"Through careful evaluation of the logistics of existing contracts we...

are making every effort to employ as many of the field and administrative staff of the now defunct Canber Saber Ltd,'' said Terry Barrow, President of Elite Engineering Ltd and CEO of the Elite Group.

Mr. Barrow told The Royal Gazette that already 22 Canber Saber employees had been rehired. But he was hoping to hire some more as the new company continued to take over existing contracts.

Staff from all three companies will be relocated to Canber Saber's Mills Reach facility over the next few weeks.

"The magnitude of such a venture entails not only the merging of the two companies' physical inventory and management of existing contracts, but also to ensure that Bermudians can enjoy continued employment,'' said Don MacKenzie, chairman of Air Care Power.

"Our short term goals are to employ as many Canber Saber staff as possible and to serve the Canber Saber customer base. We had to make these plans within a one day period so we ask Canber Saber customers to be patient while we work on this challenging situation.'' A merger between Canber Electric Ltd and Saber Electric to create Canber Saber took place a year ago.