By Lavern Clarke, Staff ReporterDEHRING BUNTING and Golding has cleared all hurdles and now has the final nod of approval from the regulatory authorities to acquire Issa Trust and Merchant Bank, Wednesday Business has learned.
But yesterday, the two parties to the deal were tight-lipped, pending an official announcement set for next week Tuesday.
DB&G chairman, Peter Bunting, plans to outline the company's strategic focus and business plan at a press conference scheduled for the company's Holborn Road, New Kingston headquarters. The investment bank will be merging its new acquisition with its merchant banking arm.
Contacted, Issa Trust head, Arthur Hudson, said any comment would have to come from DB&G, and Bunting did not accept nor return the Gleaner's call.
The deal has been pending final ministerial approval since last year, forcing the push back of the timetable for completion of the merger from its original October deadline.
In January, Issa Trust, owned by Issa Financial Services, terminated its operations and surrendered its deposit-taking licence on the 31st of that month, as plans for the ownership change advanced.
DB&G Merchant and Issa Trust are the two smallest of the 11 merchant banks operating locally, with combined assets of $782 million as at December 2002 in a $29.6 billion sector, according to the latest Bank of Jamaica figures.
But even when combined the two firms still remain the smallest of 10, despite DB&G Merchant having shown significant gains in its asset base from the $98 million recorded at September 2002 to the current $141 million. Issa Trust also advanced its position, though slightly, from $615 million to $641 million over the same period.
The two currently have a combined capital base of $192 million, approximately four per cent of the $4.75 billion industry total.
DB&G Merchant was formed about four to five years ago, when its parent acquired the indebted Montego Bay-based Billy Craig Finance & Merchant Bank.
DB&G has made cagey references to the staff that will be displaced at Issa Trust, noting only that decisions were pending, but staff at the latter agency have been actively scouting for jobs in anticipation that DB&G will likely opt to retain its own team.
