GraceKennedy chairman Douglas Orane. - File

GraceKennedy Limited yesterday used a Turks and Caiços Islands-based subsidiary to acquire the insurance portfolio of the northern Caribbean territory's major insurance brokers, United Reliance International (URI).

But last night the company declined to give the value to the portfolio or to say how much it paid for the acquisition.

"We are not in a position at this time to say," GraceKennedy's chairman and CEO, Douglas Orane, told Wednesday Business. "The acquisition is from a privately held company."

URI's major shareholder is Neville Bolton, a Jamaican who has long operated in the Turks and Caiços and will become the CEO of First Global Insurance Brokers Limited (FGIB), the vehicle used by Grace for the acquisition.

British dependency

URI itself has operated in the Turks and Caiços Islands since 1988, writing property and casualty and medical insurance business.

It currently acts as broker for Jamaica International Insurance Company Limited of Jamaica, and Guardian General Insurance Limited (formerly NEMWIL) of Trinidad & Tobago.

Both of these companies will now be represented by FGIB.

Paul Mitchell, formerly a senior executive of Jamaica International Insurance Company Limited, GraceKennedy's big Jamaica-based insurance subsidiary, will be transferred to FGIB as its managing director, Grace said.

The Turks and Caiços Islands is a British dependency which has enjoyed robust economic growth in recent years, largely on the back of tourism and off shore financial services.

Its economy grew 13 per cent last year.

Increased economy access

The acquisition of URI by the GraceKennedy group is in keeping with the firm's significant forays in the Caribbean in recent times.

Jamaica International Insurance Company, for instance, bought the portfolio of Jamaica's Dyoll Insurance when that company tumbled after Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

More recently, GraceKennedy acquire, one-third of Trident Insurance Company in Barbados and previously a similar stake in the St Lucia-based EC Insurance

Indeed, Joseph Taffe, the acting CEO of GK Investments, said yesterday's acquisi-tion was in keeping with GraceKennedy's expansion strategy within the English-speaking Caribbean.

"This acquisition within the Turks and Caiços insurance industry gives GraceKennedy increased access to a high-growth economy, which augurs well for the growth potential going forward," Taffe said.

business@gleanerjm.com