Former Lascelles aircraft handling business sold
NEW Transport Group has sold the aircraft handling and airline sales agent businesses once held by Lascelles deMercado.
A consortium led by G Raymond Chang Limited, Howard Mitchell, businessman and attorney at law, and Barnett Limited of St James, yesterday announced that they acquired All Jamaica Airline Services Limited (AJAS) and Transportation Agencies Limited (TAL).
Other investors include Dr Richard Harrison, Judith Hanson, attorney at law, and Barry Byrne, who will be managing director of the newly acquired company.
Mitchell, who is the new chairman of AJAS and TAL, said that the new owners’ first priority will be “the early settlement of outstanding human resource issues and the upgrading of service levels in all of the operations of both companies,” according to a release issued by the consortium yesterday.
“Operations at AJAS will be seamless and uninterrupted by the ownership transition,” it said.
New Transport Group was formed to absorb Lascelles deMercado’s transporation businesses, which were not acquired by Campari, when the Italian firm bought Lascelles’ rum business — Appleton and Wray and Nephew — and its merchandising operations.
Sterling Motors, Cars & Commercials Limited and Kingston Industrial Garage all fell under the transportation business, along with John Crook, Suntours Car-Hire and AJAS.
Recent media reports stated that KIG has also been sold.
Apart from Mitchell and Byrne, the new board of directors of AJAS will include Hanson, Paula Kerr-Jarrett, Alston Douglas, Godfrey Dyer, Christopher Bond, and Christopher Tufton (alternate).
