NCB's acquisition of Guardian Holdings shares welcomed

Arthur Lok Jack, Chairman of  Guardian Holdings, said on Monday that the Trinidad & Tobago Government had welcomed Jamaica based NCB's acquisition of  29.9 per cent of  the regional insurer.
   
Mr. Lok Jack said  NCB was chosen as the preferred entity to divest the shares to, after Guardian's Board resisted an overture from one of its largest shareholders, International Finance Corporation (IFC), to divest its shares in an auction to buyers external to the region.

IFC, along with the Lok Jack and Ahamad families, as well as RBC Royal Bank, were the biggest shareholders in Trinidad & Tobago based Guardian Holdings.
   
NCB is now the biggest shareholder, while the stakes owned by IFC and RBC were bought out by the Lok Jack and Ahamad families, who are now the second biggest shareholders with 22 per cent of  the company.

Mr. Lok Jack also revealed that NCB was not the only party from Jamaica initially interested in purchasing a stake in Guardian Holdings. He said one year ago, "I met with some people from Jamaica, who thought that they would like to have a substantial shareholding in Guardian, and they were putting some people together."

He said NCB was part of those discussions, and with the others "not being able to go forward with their position," the decision was made to divest the shares to NCB.
   
Mr. Lok Jack said Guardian Holdings will remain a publicly traded company.
   
The cost of  the stake bought by NCB was not disclosed, but based on closing prices on the Trinidad & Tobago stock exchange, it could be worth up to US$141 million.