Jamaica's largest commercial bank, Bank of Nova Scotia Jamaica Limited (BNSJ) announced yesterday that it has made a joint bid with its parent company, the Bank of Nova Scotia, to acquire controlling interest in local investment bankers, Dehring, Bunting and Golding (DB&G).

In a statement to the Jamaica Stock Exchange, BNSJ advised that it would seek to acquire up to 80 per cent or a minimum of 75 per cent of DB&G shares at a price of $21.08 (TT$2.00) per share. This is eight per cent above the share price on October 13.

The stock closed trading at $20.50 yesterday.

weeks of speculation

The bid caps weeks of speculation since it was floated in media reports that BNSJ had initiated talks to acquire the investment house.

Dehring Bunting and Golding, with about 309 million shares outstanding, has a market capitalisation of just under $6.4 billion and trades on both the Jamaican and Trinidad and Tobago stock exchanges.

The transaction, which is valued at Cdn $85 - 90 million (J$5 - $5.3 billion), is expected to be immediately accretive - with minimal capital impact for Scotiabank - and will constitute a 100 per cent cash offer with the principal shareholders.

According to the statement from Scotiabank, the offer - which will open on October 23, and close on November 27, is expected to take about two months to finalise.

In a press statement yesterday, DB&G's secretary, Mark Golding, said "On receipt of the offer, DB&G's board of directors will appoint a special board committee to review the offer and advise the board as to the recommendation to stockholders which is required by Jamaican and Trinidadian regulatory requirement.

Bill Clarke, president and CEO of BNSJ, said: "The acquisition presents an opportunity for all stakeholders ... if successful, this acquisition will combine Scotiabank's outstanding customer service and product offerings with DB&G's proven expertise in providing innovative and differentiated products."