Massy sells Jamaica distribution arm at over J$2b loss
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Massy Holdings Limited has booked a TT$105.3 million loss — equivalent to more than J$2.3 billion — on the sale of its Jamaican distribution subsidiary to a Trinidad and Barbados-backed consumer goods joint venture.
The group sold Massy Distribution (Jamaica) Limited to Acado Limited, a joint venture equally owned by Trinidadian conglomerate Agostini Limited and Barbadian conglomerate Goddard Enterprises Limited.
Massy chairman Robert Riley, in the company's financials released on Friday, explained that the loss did not reflect any operational weakness of the subsidiary. Rather, "the loss reflects the accounting impact of cumulative foreign exchange translation losses". The transaction, first announced in February 2025, was completed in March 2026 after a lengthy regulatory review. Riley added that the sale had the effect of "crystallising" currency losses.
The Jamaica operations retained by Massy still include gas and technology services. Over the six months to March, profit from Jamaica operations dipped to TT$40.2 million on revenue of TT$412.5 million, compared with profit of TT$52.8 million on revenue of TT$429.6 million in the corresponding 2025 period.
Massy Distribution Jamaica had been a significant player in the island's consumer goods and healthcare supply chains, distributing more than 100 drug brands islandwide alongside major consumer labels.
Insulin monopoly concern
Jamaica's Fair Trading Commission imposed a binding divestment condition on the deal to prevent an effective monopoly over the island's entire insulin supply. The FTC cleared the acquisition in February 2026 only after ordering Acado to transfer the Eli Lilly insulin portfolio to a fully independent distributor — a condition that must be met by September 2026. Cari-Med Group has been proposed as the incoming distributor for that portfolio.
The commission found that the acquisition would consolidate control of all three insulin brands sold in Jamaica under a single owner, affecting an estimated 250,000 Jamaicans living with diabetes.
Prior to the sale, the market was split between two distributors. Aventa Jamaica, already an Agostini subsidiary, held about 81 per cent of the intermediate-acting insulin market — valued at more than J$30 billion — distributing Eli Lilly products. Massy Distribution held the remaining 19 per cent, distributing Novo Nordisk and Sanofi brands. Those figures, redacted in the public FTC report, were revealed when the Financial Gleaner copied and pasted the document text in February. That report has since been updated, removing the data.
"The merger would effectively change the insulin market from a duopoly to a monopoly," the FTC staff report dated February 12 stated.
In February, Agostini Group CEO Barry Davis said the transaction advances the group's regional ambitions.
"Jamaica continues to be a key market for us, and the closure of this transaction will be strategic to our long-term growth ambition. Our ability to work with the FTC to reach an agreement underscores our commitment to good governance and compliance with regulatory requirements wherever we operate," Davis said in a release.