Durrant Pate/Contributor

ANSA McAL Group, one of Trinidad and Tobago’s largest conglomerates, is prospecting for business in Jamaica.

To this end, ANSA McAl, with stakes in several diversified companies in the Caribbean, Europe and North America, recently dispatched a team to Jamaica led by group CEO, Anthony N Sabga III, which held talks with private and public sector groups and players, representing various business sectors.

This was Sabga’s first visit to Jamaica since becoming chief executive in January 2020. The delegation met with Minister of Industry and Investment Aubyn Hill and several other technocrats at his ministry.

Investing more in local operations

In a news release issued to the Trinbagonian media, ANSA McAl says the “discussions focused on ANSA McAl’s disclosure of an investment of over J$150 million in retooling its Jamaican operations to drive further efficiencies and capacity expansion.”

For his part Minister Hill lauded the company, listed on the T&T stock market, for investing in Jamaica and ensuring people were gainfully employed.

He cited ANSA as an example of the kind of companies needed in Jamaica. Berger Paints Jamaica is partially owned by ANSA, which acquired Lewis Berger Overseas Holdings, a major shareholder of all three Berger companies in TT, Barbados and Jamaica in 2017.

Berger is the largest paint manufacturer in the English-speaking Caribbean with 95 per cent of the company’s products manufactured in Jamaica. ANSA supplies large volumes of bleach, chlorine gas and chlorine to industrial and commercial customers through ANSA Chemicals Jamaica, which is also the supplier of chlorine to the Jamaica’s National Water Company.

In the meantime, ANSA McAl continues its regional expansion campaign announcing its acquisition of a stake in a Bahamian-owned beverage company. The T&T based conglomerate has finalised its acquisition of a stake in the Bahamian Brewery and Beverage Co Ltd (BBBCL).

As part of the agreement, BBBCL will use its manufacturing facilities and route-to-market system to produce beverages from Carib’s portfolio.

In a news release, ANSA McAl says, “as the leading independent brewer in the Caribbean, rich in history, culture, and taste, Carib Brewery has crafted a superior and consistent portfolio across 33 countries from its four breweries in TT, Grenada, St Kitts & Nevis and Florida. Through its Carib trademark family, the Carib brand exists to unleash Caribbean fun into the world.”

BBBCL was established in 2007 with its first beer – Sands – named after the company’s owner James “Jimmy” Sands. It produces nine brands and also distributes several global beer brands throughout the Bahamas.