KINGSTON, Jamaica — Proven Investments Limited (PIL) indicated today, March 13, that it has completed purchase of the Bank of St Lucia International Limited (BOSLIL) from East Caribbean Financial Holding Company Limited (ECFH).

PROVEN is an investment holding Company, incorporated in St Lucia and listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange. The newly owned entity will be renamed BOSLIL Bank.

BOSLIL has over US$300 million in assets and nearly doubles PIL’s existing balance sheet. Total assets for the PIL as at December 31, 2016 stood at US$166.8 million.

Simultaneous with the completion of the acquisition, PIL said it entered into a share sale agreement with Ryan Devaux, who has been head of BOSLIL since September 2005.

Under that agreement, Devaux acquires 17.18 per cent of the shares of BOSLIL and PIL holds the remaining 82.82 per cent.

PIL said that Devaux continues in the position as Chief Executive Officer and advised that the remaining BOSLIL team will not change with the acquisition. It said BOSLIL will continue to offer the existing suite of international banking services.

In December 2016, ECFH and PIL signed a sales agreement, for the share sale and purchase of BOSLIL, a wholly-owned international financial services subsidiary, subject to regulatory approval.

The two entities have now confirmed that all regulatory approvals including the approval from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of St Lucia have been granted, and that the completion of the sale and BOSLIL’s separation from ECFH took effect on 10th March, 2017.

ECFH said that the sale of the international banking services entity BOSLIL will have no impact on the operations of the domestic banking subsidiary, Bank of St Lucia Limited, which will continue to provide banking services  to its customers and the general public in St Lucia.

It indicated that Bank of St Lucia Limited, the domestic bank, will continue to be owned by ECFH.

Avia Collinder