Durrant Pate/Contributor

The board of directors of private equity firm MFS Capital Partners Limited has convened a meeting for this week to vote on an equity raise by the company to bolster its balance sheet whilst providing additional capital for growth.

The board meeting is set to take place this Wednesday (January 17) to discuss the options available for the equity raise. 

Our Today understands that among the options to be discussed at the meeting are the conversion of existing debt and debt to be incurred to equity; a rights issue; increasing the authorised share capital; and implementation of a share option scheme or similar equity compensation programme for employees.

Capital is needed to fund MFS’ acquisition of connected company, Micro Financing Solutions (MFS) Limited, having signed an agreement in November 2022 to acquire 100 per cent of the shareholding. MFS has been operating in the microlending and cambio markets since 2014, before expanding into other financial activities such as remittance services. 

Our Today gathers that part of the existing debt used to acquire MFS as well as debt incurred in closing the deal are among those being considered to be converted into equity. The company balance sheet is also being strengthened given MFS Capital’s drive to become one of the most dominant players in the Caribbean financial sector located in Kingston. 

One of the primary strategic objectives is to acquire or purchase equity stake in mature companies that show robust growth potential. Another primary focus of the company is to become a strong leader in the areas of Investment Banking, Money Services and Real Estate. 

With the Micro Credit Act coming effected well over a year now, MFS no longer offers microloans but has gone into the business of private credit.