STANLEY MOTTA TO LIST WITH ALL-WOMAN BOARD

Shareholders Musson and Harbour Street Properties Ltd, a subsidiary of Musson, has put up for sale 757,818,862 ordinary shares in the capital of Stanley Motta Ltd, structured to raise $4 billion.

The initial public offering, which was posted on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Friday, seeks to offer investors ownership in a business process outsourcing and technology park consisting of five buildings totalling more than 200,000 square feet of rentable commercial office space at 58 Half-Way-Tree Road in Kingston, Jamaica in addition to participation in the capital appreciation of the property and income from its triple-net, United States dollar denominated leases.

Of the 757,818,862 ordinary shares, 70 per cent or 529,970,315 shares is being offered to the general public; 227,348,547 shares reserved for Stony Hill Capital Ltd, Caona Investments Ltd and Perseverance Ltd while another 500,000 are reserved for directors of Stanley Motta.

The offer, which opens July 6-20 is priced at $5.31 per ordinary share and six per cent cumulative preference shares at $2.00 each in the capital of the company.

“Our directors bring vast experience in accounting, law, finance, and real estate to the board. Each of our directors has previously led or served as a director of a listed company and/or public-sector entity. Our board will also be the first all-female board of a listed company in Jamaica’s history. My family and I intend to subscribe for all the reserved shares,” chairman of the company Melanie Subratie said in the company’s prospectus.

“The invitation values the Company as the market value of its 58 HWT property as determined by an independent appraiser less the company’s indebtedness. Our investment, at the same price and on equal terms as other investors, signifies our confidence in the future of the company and aligns our interest with all shareholders,” she continued.

Proceeds from the invitation will be payable to Stanley Motta with selling shareholders intending to use the proceeds from the sale of their shares for their own purposes. NCB Capital Markets Ltd, a securities dealer, will act as broker on the invitation.

The Karin Hay-designed 58 HWT sits on more than six acres of prime land at the nexus of Half-Way-Tree and New Kingston and consists of over 200,000 square feet of recently constructed commercial office space. The new construction adds to investment of more than US$100 million by the Musson Group over the last two years and was originally scheduled for completion by the end of the first quarter of 2018.

According to Stanley Motta, most of 58 HWT’s rental space is leased to tenants under triple net leases denominated in US dollars and includes the fast-growing BPO segment. The building has the capacity to provide over 3,300 call centre seats.

“Our anchor tenant is a US- based global business process outsourcing firm that uses our site to serve its clients, including some of the largest companies in the world,” Subratie said.

Stanley Motta was established in 1948 by its founder, Stanley Motta, and for decades, was successfully engaged in the sale and rental of electrical appliances in Jamaica. In 1983, it was acquired by Musson and continued to operate until 1998 following which it became a dormant subsidiary.

In 2015, Musson selected Stanley Motta as the vehicle through which it would develop the 58 HWT project. In 2016 and 2017 Stanley Motta acquired properties located at 58 Half-Way-Tree Road in Kingston from Musson. Today Stanley Motta owns all the properties, either directly or through its own wholly-owned subsidiary, Unity Capital, with the exception of the Great House, which was retained by Musson.