National Hotels and Properties Limited (NHP), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), has today completed the sale of its 71,865,384 ordinary stocks units or 59.81% of the issued shares in Pegasus Hotels of Jamaica Limited (PHJL) to hotelier Mr. Kevin Hendrickson for the amount of US$11 million. The share sale and purchase transaction, which is the culmination of a public bidding process in which Mr. Hendrickson was the successful bidder, has been approved by Cabinet.
In keeping with the conditions of the Supplemental Agreement signed on November 11th 2010, NHP has now appointed the following persons to the board of PHJL to replace its existing appointees:
- Milton Samuda – Chairman
- Kevin Hendrickson
- Lance Hylton
- Eric Stultz
- Jacqueline Hendrickson
- Matthew C.H. Lyn
The divestiture was undertaken by way of a controlled competitive bidding process that began in August 2009, led by Scotia DBG Investment Limited, the advisor and broker to the Government of Jamaica in the transaction.
Advertisements were published in local and regional media and international hotel trade publications over the period August to September 2009 inviting interested parties to submit Expressions of Interest. Shortly afterwards, a prequalification exercise was undertaken with prequalified candidates allowed to submit bids for the shareholding.
The Office of the Contractor-General (OCG) has monitored this privatization transaction from its inception. The OCG reviewed the process and advised of its general observations of the divestment procedures and, despite some areas requiring attention for future transactions, noted that “the overall propriety of the transaction and its consequent final result was not compromised.”
Miss Joy Douglas, the UDC’s General Manager, said that the divestment is in keeping with the 2008 instructions by the Government for the UDC to return to its core functions as established under the Urban Development Corporation Act, that is, to carry on the business of planning and development of designated areas in Jamaica.
“To comply with this mandate the UDC was required to divest itself of non-core assets,” she said. “And we are pleased that this divestment of the Pegasus shares went extremely well, with transparency and within the time frame that was set.”
The Development Bank of Jamaica Limited (DBJ), the Secretariat to the UDC divestment Enterprise Team, supervised the sale of the shares in PHJL and retained Scotia DBG Investments Ltd., by way of competitive tender, to provide brokerage and advisory services for this transaction.