FIRST Rock Private Equity is about to acquire a controlling stake in a petroleum company in Trinidad.

The cost to acquire the firm was not disclosed, but First Rock Private Equity is set to take an 85 per cent stake in the entity from the current majority shareholder.

“We were advised that this majority shareholder is exiting the Trinidadian petroleum market,” Chris Yeung, managing director of First Rock Private Equity, disclosed, adding: “The company has significant storage capacity and has historically been one of the leaders in the bunkering services.”

The Jamaica Observer learnt that the company in question is very liquid, previously recording over US$100 million in revenue from its onshore and nearshore bunkering services. As the incoming majority shareholder, First Rock plans to increase market share and grow profitability.

According to Yeung, “The acquisition is consistent with our stated intentions to expand our regional interests through strategic acquisitions in order to drive continued growth and shareholder value. Our entry into Trinidad further underscores our strategy and we remain very bullish on Trinidad and the Caribbean.”

He revealed that First Rock is seeing several attractive opportunities across the region, especially in Trinidad, noting that company’s current strategy is to diversify its portfolio across the region, adding, “this acquisition will enable us to have revenues from four different countries (Guyana, Jamaica, The Bahamas and Trinidad).”

First Rock Private Equity has slowly been growing its footprint throughout the region with two recent investments — US$1 million through Dolla Financial in Guyana, a micro lender; and US$1.3 million in My Ocean Limited in The Bahamas, a manufacturing and retailing enterprise.