Sabrina N. Gordon, Business Reporter

George

Lottery company Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL) has hired CMMB Securities Limited (CMMB), a division of Caribbean Money Market Brokers, to arrange the cross-listing of its shares on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange.

CMMB, a subsidiary of Jamaica Money Market Brokers - a company chiefly owned by the Duncan family and Lawrence Duprey's company CLICO - will assist SVL in getting the necessary regulatory approval from the Trinidad and Tobago Securities Exchange Commission (TTSEC), according to Robert Mayers, the company's managing director.

Mayers said that the process has only just begun and may last up to eight weeks. The value of the contract was not disclosed.

In a letter to shareholders dated June 17, Supreme Ventures, a publicly traded company in Jamaica since February 2006, with issued shares of more than 2.6 billion, said that CMMB had already secured registration for SVL as an external company, and was now collecting and collating the requisite information for submission to various regulatory authorities prior to listing.

SVL likely chose the company because of its track record. CMMB also assisted in the cross-listing of Capital and Credit Merchant Bank, JMMB, and Scotia DBG Investments Limited on the T&T Exchange.

SVL, run by President Brian George, says holders of its stock will have the option of transferring their stock units to the Trinidad market at a combined fee of US$28.35 per transaction, once the stock is admitted to the TTSE board. The SVL cross-listing is a follow-through on a commitment made by SVL at the launch of its IPO in Jamaica, which raised $220 million having sold 45,761,300 shares.

The stock, which listed at $4.81, tanked immediately, but has recovered somewhat in the current year, last trading at $3.31 on the Jamaica Stock Exchange.

sabrina.gordon@gleanerjm.com