PRODUCTIVE Business Solutions Limited (PBS) has successfully completed the acquisition of Xerox del Peru, SA and Xerox del Ecuador, SA, at the same time it executed a US$126-million ($19.55-billion) syndicated loan through Citibank N.A.

PBS had announced at the start of April that it was set to acquire Xerox’s Peru and Ecuadoran operations, subject to secondary approvals. PBS received those approvals, which allowed it to complete the acquisition of both businesses before the end of the second quarter on June 30. This acquisition is expected to propel the group’s consolidated revenue beyond the US$400-million mark over the next 12 months. PBS reported US$333.33 million ($51.19 billion) in revenue for 2023 in its unaudited fourth-quarter report.

“We welcome our colleagues in Peru and Ecuador to PBS. They join a team of over 3,000 technology professionals at PBS working to connect the leading enterprise technology companies in the world to governments and leading businesses in the Caribbean, Central America, and South America,” said PBS CEO Pedro Paris Coranado.

Xerox Holdings Corporation will continue to work with PBS under a partner-led solution as Xerox continues to evolve its business model. PBS is currently Xerox’s largest distributor in the western hemisphere.

This acquisition represents PBS’s second major acquisition in a year, following the June 2023 acquisition of Curaçao-based Infotrans Group Holding BV. The purchase price has not yet come to light, however, due to PBS’s audited financials still not being published to date — more than three months beyond the stipulated deadlines of Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE). This resulted in the JSE suspending trading in all classes of PBS shares on July 2 until it submits the audited financials. The company is expected to submit the audited financials by the end of this month, the same time Xerox should publish its second-quarter report which will include information on the sale details to PBS. The company has racked up $480,000 in accumulated fines for the 96 days the financials have been late.

“PBS is the pre-eminent enterprise technology platform in the Caribbean and Central America. We are at the forefront of digital transformation and technological investments across our markets. As a result, we are fortunate to have a strong pipeline of opportunities ahead of us to deploy the additional capital we’ve received. PBS is privileged to have the support of leading banking partners across our region and beyond, many of which are also our clients,” said PBS Chairman Paul B Scott in the release.

PBS’s consolidated debt balance at the end of December 2023, as per its fourth-quarter report, was US$144.24 million, with US$47.56 million listed as current or payable in the next 12 months. This balance also included $2.58 billion (US$16.65 million) related to its listed cumulative redeemable preference shares, which are set to mature on July 31 at $100.

The syndicated loan was done through Citibank, the fourth-largest bank in the United States of America, and included a group of banks from Central and South America, as well as Trinidad and Tobago, on June 26. The proceeds of the loan were to finance existing debts, lengthen debt maturities — such as those in 2025 and 2026 — and enhance its liquidity profile to continue investing in organic growth opportunities. The move further aligns the funding base of the different PBS subsidiaries which operate in 22 markets across the region. PBS has also initiated the process to redeem its Jamaican-dollar (JMD) preference shares since June 28.

PBS noted in its release, “The transaction exemplifies the confidence placed in PBS by large global banks. It also exemplifies PBS’s international profile and its ability to raise capital internationally at a time of illiquidity in Jamaican markets.”

While Jamaica’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) hasn’t published regulatory data on the securities industry in over a year, there has been a noticeable shift in capital market refinancing and managing upcoming debt maturities in 2024. JMMB Group Limited (JMMBGL) was able to extend two preference share maturities, worth $8.41 billion, from January 2024 to January 2030 by agreeing to new terms with preference shareholders at a general meeting. JMMBGL also has $10.36 billion spread across four preference shares maturing in March 2025.

Mayberry Jamaican Equities Limited recently raised $3.38 billion from a public raise through the JSE Bond Market, with $2.2 billion of those proceeds to partially repay a margin loan to Mayberry Investments Limited (MIL). Mayberry Investments is set to repay $1.374 billion to its tranche II bondholders on July 19 and has $2.282 billion to repay tranche III bondholders in January 2025.

NCB Financial Group Limited (NCBFG), the stand-alone holding company, has $36.84 billion in current debt that matures between October 2023 to September 2024. The company has refinanced some of its debt through new bond issuances but fell short in its recent additional public offering (APO) where it raised $2.50 billion out of the initial $5.097-billion target. NCBFG is currently set to sell NCB (Cayman) Limited and 30.20 per cent of its stake in Bermuda-based Clarien Group Limited.

Tropical Battery Company Limited is set to approach the capital markets in a secondary equity raise, to reduce its $1.72-billion current debt pile from its recent acquisition of Rose Electronics Distributing Company LLC (Rose Batteries). Other notable, publicly known debt maturities include First Rock Real Estate Investments Limited’s US$13.54 million of debt due in 2024; Fund Bay Equity Holdings Limited’s 8.50 per cent bond due this year; and Portland (Barbados) Limited’s multimillion-dollar debt maturity in August 2024.