Scotia DBG selling asset company

Scotia DBG Investment announced on Thursday that it has entered into an agreement to sell its asset management company (AMCL), which operates the name 'Easy Own' consumer plan.

The investment house did not disclose the sale price, but said that an independent valuation of AMCL, conducted by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, was used to determine the price per share.

Neither was the party to which AMCL would be sold revealed, but Scotia DBG said "it was a non-related party".

In the release on Thursday, Scotia DBG said that the sale is part of the company's strategic plan to focus on its wealth-management business, while divesting non-core subsidiaries.

"We feel that this transaction is in the best interest of all our stakeholders," said Anya Schnoor, chief executive officer of Scotia DBG.

"We will now be able to focus on the core business of wealth management, and AMCL will receive the necessary attention needed to develop and expand," she said in the release.

AMCL offers consumer financing and contributes less than one per cent to the investment house profitability.

Scotia DBG, in its recent first-quarter results at the end of January, turned in net profits of J$466 million, an improvement over the earnings of the pervious quarter, but a decline when compared to the same quarter in the previous year, 2010.

The investment company has total assets of J$70.8 billion.

Scotia DBG says the sale will not immediately affect customers' accounts. The deal is expected to close in four weeks, by the end of April.

Scotia DBG, which employs over 180 persons at four branches, is the wealth-management arm of the Scotiabank Group.

business@gleanerjm.com