Marcus Richards, executive vice-chairman of Greystone Capital Partners Ltd and spokesperson for St Lucian company Argyle Industries Inc — the special purpose vehicle created to hold the shares of investors who purchased the holdings of GraceKennedy Limited in Hardware and Lumber — said Monday that delisting of the company is a possibility as Argyle is aiming at the 100 per cent acquisition of shares in the company.

Otherwise, Richards said the name of the company and the management team will remain the same, adding that Argyle is inheriting enviable infrastructure from GraceKennedy, in terms of management and governance.

H&L trades under two divisions — Rapid TrueValue and AgroGrace. Homeowners, resellers, developers, contractors and farmers access a range of products and services from the 10 Rapid TrueValue and five AgroGrace stores located throughout Jamaica.

Richards said Monday, “We are grateful that Erwin Burton has accepted our invitation to remain as chairman of the Board of Directors and we value his vast experience in the business. Likewise, we have utmost confidence in the Chief Executive Officer Donna Doran and her team, to continue to steer the company on the path of growth.”

Argyle acquired 58.23 per cent shareholding from GK on December 29, after first striking an agreement to buy in March 2015.

A tender for the remaining 33,764,719 ordinary stock units opened on Monday February 1 with closing date set at March 4. An offer of $18.50 per share — similar to that made to GraceKennedy — is being made for the remaining shares. Sponsoring broker for the tender is GK Capital Management Ltd.

CEO Donna Duran will remain at the helm, the vice-chairman of Greystone said.

Richards stated, “We also acknowledge that H&L has a highly experienced team that has demonstrated commitment to the success of the organisation, making a difference in the lives of its customers, business partners and its communities. We look forward to working with the team at H&L as we seek to collectively enhance the value of the company. We also share the vision that H&L will consistently and increasingly be considered ‘the destination of choice for agricultural, building and home improvement solutions’.”

For the last reporting period, the nine months to September 31, H&L’s total operating profit was $96.2 million, representing a decrease of 44.6 per cent compared to the same period in 2014. The company said drought, impacting the agri-products division, was chiefly responsible for the fall-off.

Total revenue for the nine months was $5.37 billion or 2.3 per cent more than the comparative period. The financials said the Household, Hardware and Building Products segment — trading as Rapid True Value — performed 5.7 per cent ahead of the same period in the previous year, recording revenue of $4.09 million. However, the Agricultural Products and Equipment segment — trading as AgroGrace — recorded a revenue decline of 7.1 per cent, to end the period at $1.28 billion.

The CEO and Chairman’s report said the performance of this segment was severely affected by the extensive drought the country has been suffering since the start of 2015, affecting sales of agricultural inputs, but improvement in performance is expected as the weather improves.

The managers said improved sourcing, margin management and operational efficiencies continue to be key areas of focus.

Save and except for an expressed intent to improve market share, Richards said more could not be disclosed about any planned restructuring of the company and growth targets. He said market share could not be given, as data available was not dependable.

“As H&L remains a publicly listed company on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) we are governed by the rules of the JSE and as such, are limited in the type of information we can disclose.”

As to its continued listing, he said this will be determined by the level of response to Argyle’s offer which closes on March 4. Under the Rules of the JSE a listed company is liable to be de-listed if a single shareholder controls, directly or indirectly, more than 80 per cent of the listed shares of the company.

Richards said the target for Argyle is 100 per cent of shareholding, the acquisition of which might cost another $600 million. Just over $870 million was paid for the 58.23 per cent already acquired.

Other top 10 shareholders in H&L are Pan-Jamaican Investment Trust Ltd with 20.83 per cent of shares, Mayberry Company account with 4.07 per cent, JCSD Trustee Services Ltd – Sigma Optima with 1.86 per cent, Mayberry Investments Ltd with 1.35 per cent, National Insurance Fund with 1.24 per cent, Sagicor Pooled Equity Fund with 1.23 per cent, Mayberry West Indies Bank Limited with 1.1 per cent, Guardian Life Limited with 0.94 per cent, and in 10th place NCB Insurance Co Ltd with 600,000 shares or 0.74 per cent of company shareholding.

The spokesperson for Argyle said the new investors were willing and eager to learn from GK’s business model. “We think H&L is a very good company which historically has been run very well. Good management is in place and a very solid platform from which we can move.”

He stated, “In completing our acquisition, we recognise that we are now proud investors in Jamaica’s leading agricultural, building and home improvement solutions company. We gladly accept the baton of leadership from GraceKennedy.”

Argyle, domiciled in Castries, St Lucia, includes ABBECO Invest SA (a Bahamian investment company), Sterling Asset Management Ltd along with its affiliates and associates and Greystone Equity Partners Inc (along with its affiliates and associates).

The vice-chairman of Greystone and Argyle’s representative said he was unable it disclose the other investments in which his company was involved in Jamaica and in the region.