Hardware and Lumber indicated last week that it is asking the Board of the Jamaica Stock Exchange to date its delisting from May 31 or at a later date to be decided by the Board.

New owner Argyle Industries Inc acquired control of the company on December 30 last year when it purchased the majority shareholding of GraceKennedy Limited — just over 58 per cent — in the company.

Argyle subsequently offered to purchase all the remaining issued shares in the company. In the notice of its delisting application, the group of investors disclosed total shareholding in Hardware and Lumber as now standing at 97.7 per cent.

An offer of $18.50 per share was made to all shareholders including GraceKennedy.

In total, Argyle Industries Ltd spent approximately $1.5 billion for the acquisition.

Hardware and Lumber sells building materials, home improvement supplies, household items and agricultural products, and offers residential and commercial construction services.

Founded in 1927, Hardware and Lumber Ltd was started by the Henriques Brothers.

In June 2003 GraceKennedy Ltd acquired 67 per cent of H & L and its subsidiaries, H & L True Value, H&L Agri and Marine Co from Pan Jamaican investments (Pan Jam), which were later merged with the hardware division of Grace Kennedy, Rapid & Sheffield Company Limited, and Agro Grace Ltd.

Today Hardware & Lumber Ltd is comprised of two separate divisions — Rapid True Value which provides hardware and home improvement products, and AgroGrace which sells agricultural products wholesale and retail.

During its final quarter on the Exchange, the three-month period ended 31 March 2016, total company revenue was $1.95 billion or 13 per cent more than the previous year affected by growth in the construction industry and improved weather conditions in the agricultural sector.

Profit after tax was $48.5 million, 40 per cent more than the $34.5 million for the same period last year.