CPJ now a subsidiary of A.S Bryden by having controlling 75.3% equity

Durrant Pate/Contributor

The Seprod Group-owned AS Bryden and Sons Holding which is based in Trinidad and Tobago has formally made a mandatory offer to buy all remaining shares in Caribbean Producers Jamaica Limited (CPJ) within 30 days.

This mandatory offer comes as AS Bryden and Sons in December 2024 acquired an additional 30.4% stake in CPJ, bringing its equity holding to 75.3%, having earlier bought a 44.8% stake last July. Recognizing that this increased ownership represents more than 50% of the issued share capital of CPJ, the mandatory offer is being made in compliance with the rules of the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) of which both AS Bryden and Sons and CPJ are listed companies. 

This requires a company having more than a 50% stake in another company to make a mandatory offer to buy all outstanding shares in that company, according the JSE’s General Principles relating to Takeovers and Mergers.

With the 100-year-old T&T conglomerate having controlling interest in CPJ, the Montego Bay-based CPJ is now a subsidiary of AS Bryden and Sons. The acquisition of the additional 30.4% stake was executed by a share swap in which 95 million shares in AS Bryden were given to the selling CPJ shareholders as payment for their shares bought. 

At the time of the purchase, the closing price for AS Bryden and Sons shares on the local stock market was JA$30.95 with the 30.4% equity representing 94,871,379 shares, valued at J$2.93 billion.

AS Bryden and Sons Director, Nicholas A Scott last month explained, the “increased ownership of CPJ is consistent with our objective of purchasing additional shares we shared following the acquisition of our strategic stake in July. We will soon extend an offer to purchase shares from all CPJ shareholders on equivalent terms subject to CPJ remaining a listed company.”