Key directors await clarity on future post delisting
Published:Wednesday | July 2, 2025 | 12:05 AM
Key Insurance Company’s board awaits clarity on the company’s future from its parent, GraceKennedy Financial Group Limited, which intends to delist it from the Jamaica Stock Exchange.
“We understand that you would be interested in the planning post-delisting. At this time, the board and management cannot answer any specific questions on that because we are still to be advised,” said Key Insurance Chairman Rochelle Cameron on Wednesday at the company’s annual general meeting.
GK Financial is buying up all the outstanding shares in Key at $2.70 a pop. The offer, originally set to close in April, has been extended “multiple times” and is now due to close on July 11, “to give as many shareholders as possible an opportunity to take up the offer,” said the chairman.
Key Insurance’s nine-member board, including five independent directors, has approved the offer on the recommendation of a special independent committee.
“When we looked at the value, it was the highest it had been over the four-month period. We also considered it a reasonable offer when looking at the valuation of the properties … and also other asset values,” explained Cameron, speaking on behalf of the independent directors.
GK Financial held 73 per cent of Key Insurance prior to the offer, a stake it built up over the past five years, initially as a rescue effort for the then faltering general insurer. It needs to own more than 80 per cent in order to take the company private.
Before the GK takeover, Key was worth $850 million in 2019; in March its capital stood at $1.4 billion.