Sep 2011 Financial News

Black Sand extends its Lascelles bid

Sep 14, 2011

BUYOUT consortium Black Sand Acquisition Inc yesterday extended by three weeks its bid to acquire not less than 90 per cent of Lascelles de Mercado — owner of J Wray & Nephew, which makes Appleton rum — from troubled conglomerate CL Financial.

In a supplement to its cash offer initiated August 4, 2011, Black Sand said "the offer is hereby extended to 4:30 pm on October 18, 2011. Accordingly all references to September 26, 2011 as being the expiry date in the Takeover Bid Circular shall be amended to read October 18, 2011".

At the same time, the consortium sought to retract a statement it made in the original offer, which said that a holding of similar size to Lascelles shares in Carreras had been posted as available for sale on the JSE.

"(Lascelles) denies that it has posted and/or listed the shares for sale on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) and the JSE has confirmed that it has no listing of the shares for sale," said the supplement. "Accordingly, the previous statement, which suggested that the Carreras shares held by the Company were posted for sale on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE), is inaccurate and the shares are not in fact being offered for sale."

Black Sand is a consortium comprising of William McConnell, Pan-Jamaican Investment Trust — a hedge fund out of New York called Octavian — and other Caribbean investors.

Only two years ago, McConnell and others sold their majority shares in Lascelles to CL Financial for approximately US$750 million and now, McConnell's consortium is offering US$350 million for it.

In 2010, CL Financial became illiquid and was bailed out to some degree by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago.

This July, CL defaulted on US$342 million of notes issued in Trinidad and Jamaica which are secured by a pledge of CL's shares in Lascelles.


Source:
Jamaica Observer
Wednesday September 14, 2011

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/Black-Sand-extends-its-Lascelles-bid_9703968#ixzz1XwNOIYCR