Facey (left) and Orane (right).THE CHAIRMAN and Chief Executive Officer of Grace, Kennedy & Company Limited Douglas Orane and the Chairman of Pan Jamaican Investment Trust, Maurice Facey, on Thursday reached an agreement on the merger of Hardware & Lumber with Rapid&Sheffield.
Both gentlemen released the following statement.
We are pleased to announce that the Boards of Directors of Grace, Kennedy & Company Limited and Pan Jamaican Investment Trust, today reached agreement, subject to due diligence, on the merger of Hardware & Lumber Limited (H&L) and its subsidiaries, including H&L True Value and H&L Agri & Marine Company, with Rapid & Sheffield and Agro-Grace Limited. "Due diligence" means that during the weeks to come, we will be examining the businesses in more detail to confirm our initial assessment of their operations and financial statements.
To effect the merger, H&L will issue shares to Grace, Kennedy in exchange for the issued shares in Rapid and Agro-Grace. The merged company will be the largest wholesaler and retailer of hardware and home improvement goods as well as agricultural products in Jamaica.
The merged entity will remain a public, listed company on the Jamaica Stock Exchange with Grace, Kennedy & Company Limited being the largest shareholder and managers of the company.
The merger is expected to be completed by the end of September 2003.
The purpose of this merger is to strengthen our competitive position in the markets for building materials and agricultural products, which, as many of you know, have become far more competitive in recent times.
In particular, as Jamaican-owned companies, we need to prepare ourselves for the likely entry of new foreign-based competition in these segments. We feel that joining these entities is the best way to protect our interest and consequently our ability to provide sustainable employment for our staff.
As the merger activities take place over the next few months, we will endeavour to ensure that staff of the affected companies are kept fully informed on a regular basis.
