- Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
Hayden Singh (right) Courts (Jamaica) Limited managing director, responds to a shareholder's question while Courts executive Richard Luck, looks on. They were participating in the Courts annual general meeting at the company's Half-Way Tree branch in St. Andrew on Friday.
Andrew Green, Staff Reporter
THE CONSOLIDATION of the Caribbean operations of furniture giant Courts is now set for June of next year, says Managing Director Hayden Singh.
The company had announced previously that it was embarking on a restructuring programme that would see the merger of its 95 branches in 11 Caribbean countries under one regional umbrella. Speaking at the annual general meeting at its Half-Way Tree branch in St. Andrew on Friday, Mr. Singh said the company had met with some difficulties.
"We are looking at several different avenues of securitisation," he said. "We are looking at which way is most tax efficient."
Under Courts' plan, announced on January 19, each Caribbean territory would report to one regional entity that would float its shares on all three regional exchanges the Jamaica Stock Exchange, the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange and the Barbados Stock Exchange.
"The timetable for the consolidation is about June of next year," he said. The original plan was for the listing to take place around January.
With the complicated tax considerations, he said Courts had to negotiate conditions with the different tax authorities.
"There are 11 (Courts) operations in the Caribbean," Mr. Singh said. One of these is already listed in Jamaica and another in Barbados.
Courts Plc., the British parent company, has more than 79 per cent of the shares of the companies in Jamaica and Barbados. Courts Plc owns all the shares in the other nine companies.
ONE HOLDING COMPANY
"We are taking the Plc shareholding in those nine companies along with the shareholdings in the companies in Jamaica and Barbados and forming one holding company," he said. This holding company will be listed in Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados.
That will mean minority shareholdings in Jamaica and Barbados will be maintained. He said, "We are not swapping those shares out into the new company."
So existing shareholders will retain their shares in Courts Jamaica Limited and they will have the option to apply to purchase shares in Courts Caribbean and Latin American in the general issue. He said, "Anyone can apply."
Asked whether a share swap would be offered to existing shareholders, Mr. Singh said, "Not initially."
Other companies such as CIBC had maintained a two-tier level of listing, he pointed out. "We want to take it step by step by step."
In addition to Jamaica and Belize, the Courts group in the Caribbean has outlets in Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Antigua, St. Lucia, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, St. Kitts and St. Vincent.
"We see this as a strategic move that is necessary and one that will complement the impending Carib-bean Single Market and Economy which is scheduled to become effective in 2005," said Courts (Jamaica) Limited Chairman Bruce Cohen in his statement to shareholders in the company's annual report. "This will allow us to leverage regional synergies to further improve and enhance shareholder value."
Mr. Cohen was not in attendance at the annual meeting.
