Lawrence Duprey, chairman of CL Financial, describes himself as an economic nationalist. - File

Excerpts of a speech by Lawrence Duprey, chairman of Angostura Holdings and CL Financial Group, at a luncheon in Kingston, January 8, 2008, hosted by Angostura and Mayberry Investments to outline Angostura's pending takeover of Lascelles deMercado and Company Limited.

Both Wray & Nephew, Lascelles' spirits-producing arm and Colonial, the parent company of Angostura, are outstanding companies that have served our people well in the past.

Angostura is a global brand and so is Appleton.

At present, when you go into the global marketplace, you may see Angostura on the shelves and not Appleton. Or you may see Appleton on 10 shelves and Angostura only on two.

And as you ask questions, you begin to realise that it is all about resources, and many times, those resources are financial.

When we look at these beautiful islands that we call home, we know that we have been given sunshine, beautiful weather and fantastic beaches.

Financial endowments

But, we have not been blessed with the financial endowments that they have, for example, in the Middle East, resulting from their enormous deposits of oil.

So, when someone like me, who is really an economic nationalist looking to help and build the country from which I come, the only solution that I see is that those of us, who are working from a position of strength within our countries, have to work together.

We have to combine our financial resources; we have to combine our intellectual resources and get together to compete globally.

Whether you like to or not - and I know many people who would not disagree - energy has become an impoverishing agent in our economies.

So that when you go out there and you have to compete, you look for help, and the best help always comes from home.

And this is why when we saw an iconic brand like Appleton out there, we envied some of the positions it held. And we looked at our brands and we said, 'Let's join forces and fight the battle together.'

Because, if we have the right type of intellectual capital and we manage our resources well, we, too, do not have to be as poor as we are.

All about opportunities

We, too, can distribute income more evenly and let the benefits of our resources redound to all rather than to a few, because there will be enough to go around.

This is what this afternoon is all about. That is what CL Financial is all about. That is what Lawrence Duprey is all about. What can we do for those who are around us to whom we can give opportunities today and tomorrow that they did not have yesterday? It is all about opportunities.

And we believe that this is an unbelievable opportunity for Jamaica and Trinidad to partner in an event and in an enterprise that can go around the globe.

What do we bring to the table? Like Wray & Nephew, we are manufacturers of rum. But, we have gone and travelled the world and have set up something called, CL World Brands.

We have created platforms all around the world on which to promote our products. In many cases, we have agents.

But we have started opening offices in the U.S., in England, in Tokyo - all over the world. And, we hope one day that the marketing expertise of the Caribbean will be able to compete with the marketing expertise of Japan for our products.

Our goal is to make our products stand out as premium products that will become the luxury products of choice.

Another principle that I subscribe to, for which I may be criticised, is that we, in small economies like ours, cannot be blockbusters like our competitors.

Our runs are short. Therefore, since they are short, they have to be of high quality. If they are high quality, they must be well promoted and well managed and they must have a high level of profit.

Luxury and premiumisation are the trends that are occurring now in the marketplace and they are playing right into our hands.

Therefore, this moment is opportune and we could not hesitate anymore but go forward now and combine two great brands that would give us the advantage.

It would be an advantage where you have local industries manufacturing premium products and marketing them in the most lucrative markets worldwide.

So that I believe that should be a very attractive proposition to you, the business people of Kingston. Not only are we sharing - and Dr. Omar Davies reminded me when I was here last time with Finsac, and I tried to explain to him that this is not a repeat of that. This is a different proposition.

We are coming and we are sharing. We are getting together, because we can't compete alone globally.

We can compete locally. And if we get together, our combined strengths can get us competing out there in the international marketplace.

The tide is running in our favour right now because rum and the consumption of rum is in its ascendancy. So, we just have to do it right to get the right break. We believe that by working together, we have a better chance of doing it right.

Benefit from resources

Mr. Carballo, executive director of Angostura, explained how we have structured the transaction so that the people of Jamaica will continue to get the benefits from their resources.

Appleton, through Lascelles deMercado, will remain listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange. Angostura will remain listed on the Trinidad Stock Exchange. And trading between the two exchanges will continue.

But as we look at our economies, our liquidity is limited. So we have decided to bring the two companies together to build a global brand and get liquidity by launching it on one of the larger exchanges - most likely on one of the exchanges in London or on an exchange in another country, which we have not yet chosen.

But we would like to bring financial liquidity to a company that is owned by Jamaicans and Trinidadians, so that it would strengthen our financial system and open trading opportunities, not only for ourselves, but for people from outside who want to come in and buy into what we are doing.

But, there is another dimension to this transaction. The way the share price and the buy-out are structured, you can choose to stay in, or you can get out.

But let me give you our word - I will guarantee this - if you stay in, the rate of the returns you would be getting would be higher than any other stock on the stock exchange, either here or in Trinidad.

And it follows, because we are going to market globally. We have a strong product. We are good producers. And we are looking for liquidity on the London Stock Exchange from a fairly large-size company.

Our vision really is to create a drinks company that produces high-quality spirits and markets them in niches where we can maximise the profit from quality products.

You know, the Caribbean is all about quality and this is where we are coming from.

Today, as I stand before you, I am talking about Caribbeanisation - and not Caribbeanisation in theory, but Caribbeanisation in practice, because we want you to participate financially.

We will participate managerially. And we are going to go into the global marketplace and shine as marketers from the Caribbean. And among all other nations of the world, we will take our place. It's about time!