Left: Erwin Burton, CEO of GK Food division. Right: Courtney Campbell, chief executive officer of GK Investments. - File

GraceKennedy Limited has sold out its minority interest in Fidelity Motors Limited and its majority holdings in Versair In-Flite Services Limited to partner Goddard Enterprises Limited, saying the divestments were part of a programme to return to core business - defined by the conglomerate as finance and food.

The sale price for both was $350 million.

"We have taken the decision that our interest or focus would be in the foods and financial services business going forward and when we look at these two companies, they were outside of that focus," CEO of GK Foods and Deputy Group CEO Erwin Burton told Wednesday Business.

Eight-year partnership ENDS

GraceKennedy's 30 per cent interest in Fidelity Motors, distributors of Nissan vehicles in Jamaica, was sold to co-owner Goddard Nissan St Lucia Limited. It ends an eight-year partnership negotiated with Barbados-based Goddard back in 2001 that gave GK exclusive rights to distribute Nissan automobiles in Jamaica's new-car market.

Goddard retained controlling interest in Fidelity Motors with 70 per cent share.

The company also operated Nissan dealerships in its home country Barbados, as well as St Lucia and St Vincent.

GraceKennedy's 51 per cent share in Versair is being sold to Goddard Catering Group St Lucia Limited (GCG), its partner in the airline catering services.

GraceKennedy had initially bought out Versair from the Government back in 1981.

Goddard with its strong expertise in catering business for several years later became Grace's managing partner in the business.

"GraceKennedy's decision to divest its interest in these companies is based on a desire to focus on those businesses which have been chosen as core businesses for GraceKennedy," said Courtney Campbell, chief executive officer of GK Investments, in a stock market release on the deals Tuesday.

GraceKennedy current business segments are its food operations, GK Foods headed by Burton and GK Investments which Campbell oversees.

Campbell, who also heads a number of companies under the investment division, whose complex structure charts holdings in banking, insurance, securities trading, money transfers and remittances, was just a week ago named CEO of GraceKennedy Financial Group Limited (GFGL).

GFGL's holdings include Allied Insurance Brokers, Jamaica International Insurance Company, and First Global Holdings Limited, the vehicle holding GK's shares in First Global Bank and First Global Financial Services.

Fidelity Motors and Versair are also part of GK Investment's portfolio of companies.

Fidelity's market share is unknown in the automobile market populated by private companies, while Versair's General Manager Barry Bryne said it is the only company offering airline catering services in Jamaica.

Goddard Enterprises is itself a highly diversified conglomerate with dozens of companies and partnerships spanning the Caribbean, South and Central America.

In Jamaica, the company has a 33.3 per cent stake in National Rums of Jamaica Limited, which it owns equally with the Government of Jamaica and Demerara Distillers Limited of Guyana; and is partner with Island Grill's Thalia Lyn.

Its strength was just reaffirmed by regional rating agency CariCRIS.

Versair, though it is majority owned by GK, has been managed by Goddard, which also oversees a network of in-flight, industrial, event catering and terminal concessions in 22 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean.

GK said the ownership transition at Versair and Fidelity Motors would be seamless with no expectations of job losses.

No plans for sale

Burton also added that at this time there were no plans for sale of any other assets owned by GraceKennedy in its move towards core activities.

Campbell said his newest appointment as CEO of GFGL signals a completion of a programme to bring its regulated financial businesses under one umbrella in line with a central bank directive.

"We have now operationalised the company to comply with request from the Bank of Jamaica and so we are streamlining all regulated entities under the holding company in keeping with the regulators request," said Campbell, whose portfolio of responsibilities as CEO of GK Investment still includes the loss-making retail operation Hardware and Lumber.

sabrina.gordon@gleanerjm.com

The 2008 Nissan Navara pickup inside the Fidelity Motors showroom in Kingston in this 2008 file photo.