Williams confident of maximum equity take-up

PROVEN Investments Limited has decided to upsize its additional public offer (APO) based on the growing number of subscriptions being received.

Pursuant to the prospectus dated December 23, 2020, PROVEN Investments will be enforcing the option of upsizing the APO in excess of the 89,416,037 new ordinary shares by an additional 45 million shares to a maximum of 134,124,037 new ordinary shares.

In announcing its decision to upsize the APO, the 10-year-old PROVEN Investments reminded the public that the “APO is scheduled to close at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, January 29, 2021, subject to the company exercising its right to close the application list at any time prior to the closing date, if applications have been received for the full amount of the respective new ordinary shares offered”.

The APO, which opened on January 8, is to raise US$20 million with an option to upsize to US$30.3 million (J$4.4 billion). If the APO is successful, PROVEN would move to achieve its US$150-million capital base one year early and grow its asset base to US$650 million.

The APO initially came on the market in March last year but was suspended days later on March 13 due to the emergence of the novel coronavirus in Jamaica, which saw contemplative and uncertain market conditions. PROVEN’s original March 2020 APO offer was priced at US$0.28 /J$38.64 with the new APO being priced from 18 to 21 per cent lower to US $0.23/J $33.50.

Christopher Williams, co-founder, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of PROVEN, is confident in the ability of PROVEN Investments to garner full equity support to achieve this goal. The proceeds will be used by the company to build its capital base and pursue expansion and acquisition opportunities.

The company said it has made the announcement of the renewed APO having obtained all the regulatory approvals.  

PROVEN Wealth is the lead broker and arranger with the selling agents being Barita Investments Ltd, GK Capital Management Ltd; JMMB Securities Ltd; JN Fund Managers Ltd; Mayberry Investments Ltd; Sagicor Investments Ltd; Scotia Investments Ja Ltd; Stocks and Securities Ltd; and VM Wealth Management Ltd.

Upcoming acquisitions

PROVEN’s upcoming acquisitions have been valued close to US$30 million with the company’s six major real estate projects in Jamaica and The Cayman Islands being valued at US$15 million with the signature project being the Via residential development at Braemar and Omega Drive in St. Andrew, which is scheduled to be completed this year.

Williams reported that PROVEN has sufficient internal liquidity to execute the deals in the near term with US$125.1 million (J$18.1 billion) in cash at the end of September 2020. He also confirmed that none of the portfolio companies would be used to acquire the targets of interest.