Durrant Pate/Contributor

In what is likely to be the one of the biggest take-over bids in Jamaica, Musson Investments has submitted a take-over bid for Seprod Limited, one of Jamaica’s and the region’s largest manufacturing and distribution conglomerates.

The board of directors of Seprod Limited has advised the Jamaica Stock Exchange, (JSE), where its shares are traded, that it received the take-over bid offer from Musson, a major shareholder in the company, on Friday, January 19, 2024. In its bid, Musson is offering to purchase up to 13,948,000 Seprod ordinary shares at a cash price of J$78 per share.

This represents 1.90 per cent of the ordinary shares in Seprod not already owned by Musson and its associates. At J$78 per share, this offer is below the current market value of J$82.13 as at yesterday’s trading when 19,457 shares exchanged hands.

Opening and closing date

The take-over offer opens on January 24, 2024 and closes on February 15, 2024. Last Friday, the board of Seprod appointed an independent committee consisting solely of directors not affiliated with Musson and its associates to review the offer and to propose a recommendation to shareholders.

The company advised that a Directors’ Circular, which will include a recommendation to shareholders, will be published on the website of the JSE and in the press as required by applicable regulations in due course.

Seprod, which has been in expansion mode, last year completed its take-over of Trinidad’s 100-year-old Bryden & Sons Holdings, creating what it says to be the leading integrated manufacturing and distribution group in the Caribbean and has since been reaping the benefits of this acquisition.

Combined, Seprod and A.S. Bryden boast a team of close to 3,000 employees, with annual revenues together projected to be in excess of US$500 million.