Keith Collister, Business Writer

From left: Lester Spaulding, chairman and CEO of RJR Group, and Gary Allen, deputy managing director, poring over a document at a forum in 2004. Allen will oversee operations at newly acquired JNN and RETV media companies, while Sapulding will chair the boards. - File

After an extensive due diligence which began on August 15, RJR wrapped up its purchase of 65 per cent of Reggae Entertainment Television (RETV) and 100 per cent of Jamaica News Network (JNN) last Friday for U.S. $1.75 million, to be paid in cash and shares.

Immediately after the signing, in a meeting with staff to announce the completion of the transaction, RJR Group Deputy Managing Director Gary Allen said RJR opted to purchase the two channels because "it saw a lot of things that RJR didn't have."

He said RJR had no plans to "swamp" JNN and RETV in its "bureaucracy", adding that was their "nimbleness, creativity and outside the box thinking" that had attracted the media group in the first place.

Allen will be based part-time at JNN/RETV's offices as "the anchor between the two companies," said RJR chairman Lester Spaulding.

Balram Vaswani and Kimani Robinson would remain CEOs of their respective companies JNN and RETV, said Spaulding, adding that the two were in agreement with the direction RJR will pursue for the companies.

Clear synergies

Spaulding said he saw clear synergies with RJR that would create 'shareholder value', adding that reggae entertainment was a powerful global brand, and that with RJR's backing, RETV could become the "MTV of the Caribbean", as one satellite could reach from "Los Angeles to France, from Canada to Argentina."

He also believed that there would be strong demand for a dedicated news channel from the Jamaican Diaspora

RETV founder Robinson said the RJR partnership was "a good strategic move", that married youth and creativity with RJR's experience and industry knowledge.

The partnership will take RETV national.

One of the original investors in the two small companies, Pradeep Vaswani, described how his investor group - himself, Italian Marco Fila of the famous footwear company, and BalramVaswani - had taken the decision while in Italy in mid 2005 to take a majority stake in JNN and minority stake in RETV on the basis of its export potential.

Capital injection

Their capital injection allowed for the building of modern new facilities, hiring of new staff, and the purchase of new equipment to expand the business.

During this business building process, they had been approached by several groups to buyout the company, but had chosen RJR as their preferred partner, due to its track record and resources.

Vaswani JNN was "not in the business of news gathering, but in the business of real time news distribution" - tapping into the Jamaican Diaspora.

Commenting on JNN's future prospects, Balram said once they reach all cable households "live" in Jamaica, they will target the other English speaking islands. "We are also very excited by the prospect of using of satellite or other means such as Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) to reach the large Caribbean Diaspora of Miami, London, Atlanta, New York and Canada," he said.

"And as part of this strategy, we will be undertaking a soft launch of www.jnntv.com at the beginning of 2007."

Vaswani says JNN will be focus more on their business niche, working more closely with the business community to develop tailored programming.

Significant role

He sees a significant role for JNN in the upcoming elections, with their planned launching of "Jamaica Votes 2007" next year. This, he said, will be the first election where viewers will see real-time data during and leading up to election day.

Reflecting the change of ownership, the boards of both companies have been restructured and both are now chaired by RJR's Spaulding.

RJR's slate of directors also includes Gary Allen, RJR Group financial controller Roxiana Malcom, well known media specialist François St. Juste, and telecommunications expert Ian Neita.

In addition to the two founders, their slate of directors on JNN's board includes the Cool Group's Joey Issa, and investor Paul Scott of Mussons Jamaica, rounds out RETV's board.

keithcollister@gleanerjm.com