Imbert: Govt welcomes NCB takeover bid

ACTING Prime Minister Colm Imbert says Government welcomes the investment represented by the National Commercial Back (NCB) Jamaica takeover bid for Guardian Holdings of Trinidad.

He was speaking yesterday at the post-Cabinet media briefing at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s. “The Government welcomes investment in TT, particularly from within the Caricom region. And we are facilitating this takeover bid to the best of our ability and we are hopeful that all the issues would be resolved very soon.

“But we welcome this Jamaican investment in Trinidad, as our businesses also go out and invest in the Caribbean, in Jamaica, in Barbados (and) elsewhere. So we are very supportive of this initiative by NCB of Jamaica.”

Imbert said there were issues that need to be resolved and the process must be taken through all the stages in terms of review. He said two issues were being looked at: payment for the shares, whether should be paid for right away or via a loan by some of the shareholders; and the ownership of NCB, whether it is owned by a Jamaican entity or Canadian entities.

“We are also looking at the question of control – exactly who controls the company that is seeking to buy the shares, which is a Trinidadian-registered company called NCB Global Holdings Ltd.”

Imbert said he did not expect these things to create any major problems and there was constant dialogue with the representatives for NCB of Jamaica.

“And we hope it all will be settled soon. As I said we welcome this investment and once the applicable procedures are followed we don’t anticipate any difficulties.”

Guardian Holdings Ltd is the parent company of an integrated financial services group known as Guardian Group, with a focus on life, health, property and casualty insurance, pensions and asset management. The company has markets in 21 countries across the English- and Dutch-speaking Caribbean, including TT, Barbados, Jamaica, Curacao, Aruba, St Maarten and Bonaire. National Commercial Bank Jamaica provides credit cards, mortgages, personal loans, savings accounts, investment, insurance and business banking.