Successfully completes US$5-million private placement

The investment pipeline of regional investment company, Portland JSX Limited has been boosted with the successful completion of a US$5-million capital raise on the equities market.

This is Portland JSX’s second capital raise in four months after the successful completion of a J$600-million bond offering back in April this year, maturing in five years. This latest capital raise was for a private placement of US$5 million worth of Cumulative Preference Shares.

These preference shares mature in five years and are subject to certain terms and conditions. The proceeds of the offer were used to co-invest in securities of Outsourcing Management Limited, which does business as itelbpo. itelbpo is an existing portfolio company of Portland Caribbean Fund (PCF) II, which is the investment arm of Portland JSX.

The preference shares are expected to be fully serviced by returns from the related investment in the BPO company, which is rapidly expanding with profits growing year-over-year.

Itel-BPO rapid expansion

Just last month itelbpo, the Caribbean’s largest homegrown customer experience (CX) provider, announced its acquisition of Emerge, a business process outsourcer in Guyana. The new addition will include 700 new staff members across operations in Guyana, Honduras and a work-at-home network in the US.

This is a strategic acquisition aimed at widening itelbpo’s already expansive geographic footprint that includes locations across the Caribbean, Latin America, and North America. Located in a seven-storey building in the heart of Georgetown, Guyana’s capital city, the new operations will offer itelbpo the physical space to grow and scale.

Growth of Portland JSX investment in PCF II

For the year ended February 28, 2021, Portland JSX investment in PCF II grew by 8.91 per cent. This increase reflects active deployment of capital by the fund to portfolio companies.

Profit for the year increased from a net profit of US$1,345,405 in the prior year to a net profit of US$2,115,991. Profit per stock unit was US$0.0068 as compared to US$0.0043 per share in the prior year.

The main focus of the year just ended was the continued support of PCF II in its investment activity and the management of the company’s cash resources throughout the pandemic.