IPO planned for 2022

The UCC Group investment subsidiary, Spectrum Capital Partners St Lucia Limited has acquired REMAX Elite and REMAX Jamaica as well as three commercial real estate properties in Kingston and Montego Bay, for an undisclosed amount, from Marquis Holding Limited (MHL) in what is being hailed as a bold and significant coup for the Group.

Spectrum Capital provides alternative financial products including venture capital, private equity and mezzanine financing to eligible private sector companies locally and overseas. The company plans to take the expanded REMAX Elite and REMAX Jamaica to market with an IPO in 2022.

Through its subsidiary, Worthington Real Estate Investments Limited, the acquisition was achieved as part of an Allfinanze strategy to complement the operations of the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean (UCC) and the needs of its students and alumni as well as to act as a catalyst in the development of Jamaica and the wider Caribbean and its people by offering winning cost-effective options for wealth creation.

Dr Winston Adams, UCC Group founder and group executive chairman, said that “this idea of “commonwealth building” is a novel approach in making the Caribbean a market leader and the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean and its subsidiaries agents of change. 

“We have well developed plans to open further REMAX offices and franchises across Jamaica as well as four other Caribbean countries and we have appointed a new strong, experienced board of directors and property entrepreneurs to run all our REMAX operations who are keen to innovate in the real estate market,” Adams said.

He added: “We have the benefit of a cadre of brokers and advisors such as Mayberry Investments Limited, Jamaica Money Market Brokers Limited and top players in the real estate, finance, construction, and investments industries as partners. This is the first in a carefully planned build out years in the making.”

REMAX Elite and REMAX Jamaica join the working portfolio of the UCC Real Estate Investment and Development (UCC REID), the real estate and property arm of the UCC Group, launched in March 2020 to help the Group develop and maximise the use of its real estate to accommodate blended teaching methods while supporting graduating students and alumni of the University and Caribbean clients with their residential and commercial property needs.

UCC REID CEO Richard Kildare noted that “this acquisition of REMAX Elite and REMAX Jamaica is well in line with the expansion plans for the UCC Group to provide a range of services at the highest possible levels to Jamaica and regionally”. 

Said Kildare: “REMAX Elite and REMAX Jamaica have consistently performed at the head of this sector since their launch in 2009 and have remained there locally and globally, in spite of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. They are among the leaders in the Jamaican real estate market in brand awareness and sales performance and enjoy an excellent reputation for exemplary service. 

“REMAX Elite and REMAX Jamaica, the Jamaican franchises, are a part of the international brand REMAX International LLC, a truly international brand, delivering unmatched levels of services across 87 countries; with over 6,300 independently owned and operated offices by people who know their respective markets, and therefore bring a wealth of worldwide expertise to a local market.”

Concurring with Kildare, Adams noted: “This acquisition is in perfect alignment with UCC REID’s mandate to support graduating students and other Jamaican and Caribbean clients with their residential and commercial property needs including for office space, warehousing, manufacturing and construction. We intend to blend our strengths to retain and build on the REMAX Elite position as a market leader in Jamaica and across the wider Caribbean region.

“These advances are keeping the Group on track, despite COVID, to bring both the University and the REMAX entities to the market in two IPOs sometime around the middle of next year. This will be a major step in achieving the Group’s long-term vision of building a university town – a first for the Caribbean – which will put Jamaica at the centre of educational exports”.

MAJOR EXPANSION MODE

Since 2019, The UCC Group has been in major expansion mode. Apart from the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean, Spectrum Capital Markets and UCC REID, there are: Global Knowledge Process Solutions, a business process outsourcing entity for companies within the local and international marketplace; UCC Academy, the technical/ vocational arm of the UCC Group which offers occupational associate degrees and other programmes; UCC Global, a world-class educational institution offering higher education to qualified students locally, regionally and globally through online programmes with the UCC and a range of international partners; and the UCC Foundation, a US-registered 501-C3 tax exempt organisation which seeks developmental grants for the university and scholarships for its students.

The UCC is the largest non-affiliated, privately-owned university in Jamaica with international institutional accreditation by the UK-based Accreditation Service For International Schools, Colleges and Universities (ASIC) as well as institutional accreditation by the University Council of Jamaica. It is one of only four universities of 80 public and private tertiary institutions that have been registered by the UCJ, to have achieved this significant accreditation status.