May 2019 Financial News

NCB Financial Group Limited - Closure of acquisition of majority interest in Guardian Holdings Limited

May 14, 2019

NCB Financial Group Limited (NCBFG) and its wholly owned subsidiary, NCB Global Holdings Limited (NCBGH) are pleased to announce the successful completion of the acquisition today of 74,230,750 ordinary shares in Guardian Holdings Limited (GHL), following the granting of all necessary regulatory approvals, including in Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago, and the closing of NCBGH’s take-over bid (“the Offer”) on May 3, 2019. Such shares were taken-up and paid for by NCBGH earlier today (May 13, 2019). NCBFG and NCBGH wish to thank all stakeholders for their support in bringing this transaction to a close, particularly all GHL shareholders who contributed to the success of the Offer.

A net total of 117,971,970 shares were tendered in response to the Offer, after taking into account 796,364 shares tendered but not accepted based on the Offer conditions. Based on the shares acquired, NCBGH now owns nearly 62% of the outstanding shares in GHL.

“As we stated at the beginning of this journey, we believe this transaction is a game-changer in the history of the region. Amidst the context of the de-risking impacting the region, we are proud and excited about the implications and prospects of two leading indigenous Caribbean institutions coming together to drive economic growth, customer and shareholder value.” – said Chairman of the NCBFG – Hon. Michael Lee-Chin, OJ.

Patrick Hylton, Group President and CEO of NCBFG added, “Each having become stand- alone regional leaders, NCB and GHL combined have the opportunity to become a world class financial services conglomerate, which has positive implications for our shareholders, our region and its citizens.”

GHL CEO Ravi Tewari further indicated, “Since the acquisition of the first block of shares in 2016 the Guardian Group began to see opportunities for a very positive impact for the shareholders, clients and employees of the Guardian Group. This further deepening of the relationship between two leading Caribbean companies augurs well for the acceleration of
these positive impacts for Guardian and the region.”


Source:
The Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange Limited
Monday 13 May, 2019