Lasco’s chairman, Lascelles Chin, says he will protect the integrity of the affiliated companies against suggestions that they were split up in order to make the junior stock exchange requirements.

“There are persistent rumours that I split the companies up, so as to enter the Junior Market. We have explained many times that this is not so,” an obviously annoyed Chin told Wednesday evening’s Mayberry Investments Ltd monthly forum at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston.

“We have five companies and we combined them together and the Jamaica Stock Exchange agreed to it. But, still we have many people insisting that I broke up the company. I don’t know if it is just a lie, or they are very envious of what we have achieved, but don’t be surprised if I have to put out an advertisement to do that, because you are shareholders and I want to protect your integrity too,” the Lasco chairman added.

Chin was supported by Mayberry’s chief executive officer (CEO), Gary Peart, who took exception to one member of the audience insisting on referring to a split-up of the companies prior to entering the Junior Market during the question and answer period of the forum, despite Chin’s explanation.

Peart said that the questioner’s statement was totally erroneous and was pure propaganda. He said that there are legal documents required from every company entering the Junior Market and which contain all the necessary information about the activity.

“The documents speak to what occurred when the three affiliated companies of Lasco were listed. That document speaks to the fact that the companies were actually combined, not split,” he noted.

Peart also pointed out the maximum value of companies joining the junior stock exchange is $500 million, while the combined value of the three Lasco affiliates — Lasco Manufacturing, Lasco Distributors and Lasco Financial Services — is approximately $400 million.

“So what that means is that we could have actually combined the three companies into one and they would have still qualified for the Junior Market,” he explained.

He said, in closing, that he would advise “ill-informed persons” to stop repeating the erroneous statements about the companies’ listing.

Eligibility for the Junior Market requires that the company has no less than 25 participating voting shareholders who hold, in aggregate, not less than 20 per cent of the fully paid, subscribed participating voting share capital; and that the fully paid, subscribed participating voting share capital is not less than $50 million and not more than $500 million, and such capital is fully paid

Chin said that he decided to place the companies on the Junior Market, because he wanted his hard-working staff to share “a piece of the pie”.

“I am not selfish, and, as I said before, I don’t worship money, and my success too is that everybody has to benefit,” he said.

The other reason, he said, was that going public would be a much better way of managing the company after he passes on.

“I must say to you at this point that my role in the company, which has very competent managers and management teams, and the whole staff of Lasco, including the sweepers and gardeners, are very valuable to us. So that my job is not only to plan for the future, plan the growth strategy, plan the sales and set high targets for sales, but also to make sure that I protect what we have, so that anybody or any competitor trying to hurt or damage us, I am there to look about it,” he said.

He also urged the shareholders to look out for the people trying to hurt the company, and to ensure that they inform the management about these actions.