built on the site of the Bermudiana, a spokesman for the developers confirmed yesterday.

The company, a subsidiary of Jardine Matheson, operates a leading chain of hotels from Hong Kong to San Fransisco to Bangkok.

Mr. Jeff Conyers, president of First Bermuda Securities, said there were discussions with "two or three top-class hotel operators,'' including Mandarin. He would not identify the others.

Representatives from Mandarin had met with those planning the $131-million project, and "we are anxious to carry on discussions,'' Mr. Conyers told The Royal Gazette .

He said scepticism about the project expressed by Dorchester Realty managing director Mr. Duncan McBeath sounded like sour grapes.

Last week, Mr. McBeath described the Bermudiana project's prospectus as "a fiction.'' "I don't think any sensible person reading that prospectus would want to invest their hard-earned money in such a risky project,'' said Mr. McBeath.

Anything that happened would have to wait until after October 5, when the outcome of the election was known, he added.

Mr. Conyers said Mr. McBeath's comments were at least partly prompted by "his own self-interest,'' because "he's probably interested in doing it himself.

"It's fair to say that he and (Winworth Ltd. president) Michael Winfield had discussions about them wanting to buy a piece of it, if not the whole thing,'' Mr. Conyers said of Mr. McBeath and Dorchester. "They're not prepared to do anything until after the election.

"As far as we're concerned, it's going ahead.'' The development company Bermuda Financial Centre Ltd. (BFCL) has the exclusive right to negotiate with Forte Hotels of Britain, which wants $14.5 million for the Bermudiana.

BFCL plans to demolish the dilapidated Bermudiana. In its place would be built a five-star hotel with 300 rooms and suites, three office buildings, and a 1,000-seat convention centre.

Last week, BFCL launched a public share offering aimed at raising up to $4.5 million. The offering closes on October 8, three days after the general election.

Response had been "positive,'' but "we expect the bulk of the money to come this week and the following week,'' Mr. Conyers said. "I would think we would raise our first million by the end of this week.'' The timing of the offering around the election "clearly isn't perfect,'' but BFCL wanted to "get things going as quickly as we possibly can,'' he said.

First Bermuda Securities is a financial adviser to BFCL and is charged with helping to raise $131 million to develop the centre. It expects to raise $6 million in preferred shares, $40 million in convertible debentures, and $85 million in mortgaged notes.

"We've been approached by a couple of very deep-pocketed groups that are interested in doing the whole thing,'' Mr. Conyers said. "I think it's better for Bermuda to get a really good cross-section of ownership in this project.''