Mayberry Jamaica acquires stake in Derrimon
THE SECOND-LARGEST shareholder in distribution outfit Derrimon Trading Company Limited, DTL, has sold its stake to Mayberry Jamaican Equities Limited, MJE.
Manwei International Limited held just two per cent of Derrimon when the distribution company first listed on the junior market of the stock exchange in 2013 but has grown its stake over the years to 15 per cent, or 419.998 million shares.
The sale of the nearly 420 million shares on September 3 was only disclosed on Monday in market notices published by the Jamaica Stock Exchange.
The value of the deal was not disclosed, but at Derrimon’s trading price of $2.48 on the day, it would have been worth $1.04 billion. Based on the performance of the DTL stock as of Monday, at $2.42 per share, the holding is now worth just shy of $1.02 billion.
Companies Office of Jamaica records describe Manwei as an overseas company that was registered in Jamaica in March 2013. Its named director is businessman Huixiong Liao and its secretary is Anna Chang-Liao, both based in May Pen, Clarendon. The names of the shareholders were not disclosed, while Manwei Managing Director Paul Buchanan described the owner only as a pirate individual with no connection to Mayberry.
Buchanan, who joined Derrimon’s board in 2015, says the disposal of the shares was motivated by profit-taking.
“It’s just an opportunity that was presented, and we saw where we could take some profits. We had that investment for about three years. This gives us a chance to look at some other opportunities,” Buchanan said.
In addition to running Manwei, Buchanan is chief investment officer for a company called Cadre Investments. At one time, he was also employed to Mayberry Investments Limited, the parent company for Mayberry Jamaican Equities.
Mayberry Investments was the broker and arranger for the listing of Derrimon in 2013.
Buchanan said that the Derrimon holdings accounted for 36 per cent of Manwei’s investment portfolio and that the company was looking for new investment opportunities.
Mayberry Investments CEO Gary Peart, who confirmed the transaction with Manwei, said that MJE sees “good growth prospect” in the Derrimon holdings.
Derrimon is principally owned by Derrick Cotterell and family. Since its listing six years ago, Derrimon has been on a sustained expansion drive, mostly through acquisitions that have grown its revenue base from $5.5 billion at listing to $9.3 billion last year.
Its holdings include grocery businesses Sampars and Select, manufacturer Caribbean Flavours & Fragrances, and pallet maker Woodcats.