Susan Gordon, Business Reporter
Left: Peter Bunting, chairman of DB&G, says he is yet to get a formal offer from BNS. Right: Bill Clarke, president of Bank of Nova Scotia Jamaica, is going after controlling interest.
Three weeks after confirm-ation that acquisition talks were under way, Dehring Bunting and Golding (DB&G) is yet to receive a formal offer from Bank of Nova Scotia Jamaica (BNS), says executive chairman of the investment bank Peter Bunting.
"BNS has not yet made an offer," said Bunting at a company launch of a new financial product from a subsidiary of DB&G.
It is unclear whose shares are up for sale, but BNS' earlier advisory that it was going after "controlling" interest, suggested that it would be going after more than Bunting's near 40 million block of shares.
Expressed interest
Wednesday Business was unable to get a comment from BNS on the issue.
But more than a week ago, the commercial bank, which is building out its own investment arm, had approached journalists saying president William 'Bill' Clarke was willing to speak on the deal, adding, however, that any interview would have to follow disclosures to the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE).
Questions were requested in writing, but Clarke never followed through.
Last month, BNS confirmed in a press release that it had interest in acquiring a controlling stake in DB&G, clarifying that the talks were preliminary.
"There is no assurance that a transaction will result from these discussions and no further comment will be forthcoming," the bank stated in a press release.
The issue sparked intense trading of both stocks with the BNS stock moving from $1.05 to $21.00 and DB&G climbing by $2.40 to $18.50. in a single day.
Taking precautions against disproportionate market reaction, the JSE, in a pre-emptive move, suspended the trading in BNS & DB&G on September 14 to allow the market time to digest the news.
Bunting's responses yesterday have cast more doubts on whether there is a concrete deal in the making. He told WednesdayBusiness reiterating that this was not the first time DB&G had been approached.
Should a definite offer come from BNS, Bunting said he would be selling his 13 per cent stake. But explaining that BNS' expression of controlling interest means acquiring a minimum of 50 per cent of the shares in the company, he added that it would take two other major shareholders selling their shares to make this happen. Bunting holds 39.9 million of more than 303 million issued shares.
No politics
Although he declined to tell Wednesday Business who the other shareholders interested in offloading their stakes were, Wednesday Business understands that part owner Mark Golding would also be likely to divest his holdings, which were almost equal to Bunting's.
Pressed on whether he was willing to give up his interest in DB&G to re-enter the political arena, as rumoured on the cocktail circuit, Bunting who has had a two-year stint in politics, responded: "I'll not go into politics in the near or foreseeable future."
- susan.smith@gleanerjm.com
