Sir Jack sells stake in Bahamas authority

Wolves life president Sir Jack Hayward has sold his stake in an organisation which regulates business dealings in the Bahamas, it emerged today.

The 86-year-old, who sold the football club to Steve Morgan in 2007, owned 50 per cent of the Grand Bahama Port Authority, the quasi governmental authority that runs Freeport, the second largest city in the Caribbean islands.

Sir Jack has not revealed who has bought his shares but described the buyer as having "a real zeal for investment and bringing loads of money into Freeport".

Sir Jack was in a three-year legal battle after being taken to court by his late business partner Edward St George's family.

Sir Jack had claimed he owned three-quarters of the authority, but a judge in 2007 ruled he only owned half.

The judge ordered Sir Jack pay all of the St George's costs, which were thought to run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Sir Jack arrived in Grand Bahama in 1956, and became a vice president of the port authority which helped promote the development of Freeport.

He took over his father's interests in the Bahamas, and continues to this day to play a role in developments in Freeport where the Jack Hayward High School is named after him.

The port authority, or GBPA, has interests ranging from property development and municipal services to airport and harbour operations and shipyard concerns.

Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham has been informed about the sale.

Sir Jack is not expecting the prime minister to intervene and said the sale was "probably one of the most exciting investments in the Bahamas' history".

Sir Jack bought Wolves in 1990 for £2.1 million and sold the club to Mr Morgan for a nominal £10 on condition that he invest £30 million in it.