NCB announces Sale of Kingston Wharves Shares

 

National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited (NCB) announced that the Bank and its subsidiary, NCB Capital Markets Limited have reached an agreement that will result in the sale of  their  32.59 percent interest in Kingston Wharves Limited (KW) to Seaboard Corporation (Seaboard) and Jamaica Producers Group Limited (JP).  As a result of the transaction, Seaboard is acquiring 21 percent of the outstanding KW Shares and JP is acquiring 11.59 percent of the outstanding KW Shares (thereby increasing its shareholding in KW to approximately 42 percent).

According to Patrick Hylton, NCB Group Managing Director, “We continuously review our investment holdings and our operations and have concluded that Kingston Wharves falls outside our core strategic priorities at this time.  We are pleased to have been able to identify two buyers who are committed to the continued development of the Kingston port and logistics business.” 

KW is listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange and operates a comprehensive range of terminal equipment across 260,000 square meters of open storage space, 24,000 square meters of covered warehousing and cold storage, and 53,000 square meters of off-dock storage for motor vehicles.  The KW terminal has a 1.7 kilometre continuous quay that provides nine deep-water berths for roll on-roll off, lift on-lift off, general break bulk, containerized cargo and bulk cargo vessels. 

Seaboard Corporation is a global food, energy and transportation company that is listed on the NYSE MKT.  Through its Seaboard Marine Division, it operates a containerized shipping service between the United States, the Caribbean Basin, and Central and South America.  Edward Gonzalez, President of Seaboard Marine stated, “Our shipping line has operated as a customer of Kingston Wharves for decades.  We are pleased to deepen our longstanding relationship with all of the stakeholders of Kingston Wharves in our new capacity as shareholder.”

JP is a specialty foods and logistics group operating in the Caribbean and Europe and is listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange.