The sale of furniture retailer Courts (Jamaica) to a Latin American interest is a done deal, reliable sources have told the Observer.

Details of the purchase are expected to be announced today. However, the Observer has learnt that the offer price will be in the region of J$4.00 per share, and the cash offer can be taken up in Jamaican or United States currency.

The sale of Courts (Jamaica) is part of a Caribbean package deal whereby the Latin American interest, said to be in a similar type of business as Courts, will also buy the furniture stores in the 11 Caribbean jurisdictions, which include Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados and Belize. Individuals close to the deal also say that each Courts Caribbean location will receive a separate offer price.

At its September annual general meeting, Courts Jamaica managing director Hayden Singh said that the company had signed a memorandum of under-standing (MOU) with a preferred bidder in August.

“We entered into an MOU with a preferred bidder about three weeks ago,” Singh said at the September 13 meeting. “That bidder has to reach milestones at certain times and I understand that these milestones are being met in a timely fashion. I am hoping that a deal will be finalised sooner or later.”

Jamaica is considered Courts’ flagship operation in the Caribbean. The company regularly pays dividends, and has managed to record six-month profits of $384 million to October 1, 2006. Additionally, Courts Jamaica’s hire-purchase portfolio stood at $4.6 billion, a four per cent growth over the same period for 2005 with $845 million in new hire-purchase contracts for the six months to October 1, its financial statements show.

The parent company, Courts UK, buckled under the weight of a £280-million debt burden in 2004. In a prepared statement issued late 2004, the Courts UK board stated, “The board has been informed that the principal lenders will not grant waivers for the covenant breaches likely to occur shortly, nor will they provide immediate additional funding required”.

However, the losses did not carry over into is operations in 20 countries outside of the United Kingdom. The Cohen family, the principal owners of the Courts brand, were removed from the board and the overseas assets put up for sale by lead administrator KPMG.