Eppley Caribbean Property Fund failed in its bid to acquire the targeted 300-thousand shares in its buy-back plan, which sought to protect shareholder’s value in the company.

Eppley, which is the largest listed real estate mutual fund in the Caribbean, managed to acquire just over 14,000 shares out of the 300,000 target.

The buy-back plan was initiated because the shares are currently being traded below its book value. The company bought 14,645 shares during the period February 4-5, 2020.

The shares were repurchased on the open market via Eppley’s broker, NCB Capital Markets Limited. The company has disclosed that the source of funds used for purchasing the 14,645 shares was cash from its operations.

Eppley trades on the Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago stock exchanges.

In its posting on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) Eppley reports that “The purpose for the buy-back purchase was to unlock shareholder value by purchasing at a price that is at a significant discount to our book value per share consistent with the strategy previously disclosed in our prospectus and our recently released annual report.”

The company had earlier indicated to the Jamaica Stock Exchange that it is seeking to repurchase shares over time with its own cash “at a price below or equal to the company’s net asset value per share” or $48.64 per share as of September 30, 2019.

Eppley was listed in 2013 with an investment strategy of producing attractive risk-adjusted returns by identifying inefficiencies in Caribbean financial markets.