Completion of sale is subject­ to regulatory approval by Jamaica’s Fair Trading Commission

Durrant Pate/Contributor

Trinidad and Tobago-based regional distribution conglomerate, Massy Holdings is buying Jamaica-based gas company, IGL (St Lucia) International Business Company (IBC).

The Board of Directors of Massy on Monday (December 19) approved the acquisition of IGL by Massy Gas Produ­cts Holding Limited (MGPHL), a wholly owned subsidiary of the company. MGPHL has entered into a share purchase agreement with Caribbean Petroleum Marketing Limited to purchase 100 per cent of the share capital of IGL (St Lucia) IBC for US$140.3 million.

IGL (St Lucia) IBC owns 100 per cent of the share capital of IGL Limited, a company that has operated in Jamaica for six decades and whose primary business fun­ctions are the distribution of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), manufact­uring and distribution of industrial medical gases and the provision of a range of related services in both segments.

Completion of the transa­ction is subject to regulatory approval by Jamaica’s Fair Trading Commission. In a statement announcing the purchase, Massy reported that “the acquisition of IGL (St Lucia) IBC from Caribbean Petroleum Marketing Limited, is part of the Gas Product­s Portfolio’s growth strategy for its LPG and industrial medical gases business operations in Jamaica”.

Currently, the gas produ­cts portfolio operates in Jamaica via a subsidiary company and is already involved in the sale of LPG and industrial medical gases. The acquisition will represent a 7.3 per cent increase in the Massy group’s assets and will contribute to an increase in the group’s profit of approximately 7.1 per cent.

For the gas product­s portfolio, the acquisition is expe­cted to increase its pretax profit by 29.7 per cent. Massy has been on an expansion drive over the past week announcing last week the acquisition of a US-based supermarket chain in Florida for US$47 million.

The transaction has been completed following the board’s approval on December 7.