MFS Acquisition Limited has completed the acquisition of SSL Venture Capital Limited (SSLVC) and is looking to change the name of the company at the upcoming extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to be held on June 13.

MFS Acquisition was established by Micro-Financing Solutions Limited (MFSL) as a special purpose vehicle to complete the acquisition of the Junior Market company listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE). MFS Acquisition now holds a 79.08 per cent stake or 316,329,891 shares in SSLVC as of May 25. This makes SSLVC a subsidiary of MFS Acquisition. MFS Acquisition paid $29.99 million for the stake at $0.0948 per share. Stocks and Securities Limited (SSL) withdrew support from SSLVC at the end of March.

“We are excited about this acquisition which expands our possibilities. Now we will go in and assess our next steps, which will certainly include acquiring entities that can enhance shareholder value,” stated director of MFSL Dino Hinds in a release following the completion of the acquisition.

MFSL is a private company that offers short term-funding solutions to individuals and small businesses, along with remittances, bill payments and cambio operations. It began in 2012 and has taken equity positions in several other entities with the SSLVC acquisition to bolster its position as a private equity player.

Consequent on the acquisition of SSLVC by MFS Acquisition, Zachary Harding, John Jackson, Christine Birch and Brent Ciurlino resigned as directors on May 26 at the board meeting. Jeffrey Cobham resigned as chairman of the company on the same date. Harding demitted office as chief executive officer of SSLVC, with Anthony Dunn demitting office as chief operations officer as well. Both will retain their respective roles in the SSL Group.

Clide Leopold Nesbeth was elected as the new chairman of the board. Hinds, Robert Barnes, Christine E Johnson Spence and Anika N Jengelley were appointed as the new directors of the board at the same meeting. All directors are professionals in marketing and communications, law, banking and finance, investment, commercial banking, and management.

The virtual EGM will be held at the current Barbican Business Centre head office to change the company name to MFS Capital Partners Limited, which has been reserved at the Companies Office of Jamaica. SSLVC’s current financial year ends on June 30.

This is the second takeover of the surviving entity known as SSLVC. SSL executed a reverse takeover in July 2018 to rescue the failed music outfit known as C2W Music Limited. SSL had paid between $0.40-$0.60 per share for the 215,978,588 shares from the prior major shareholders. SSLVC was created to invest in budding companies, with the intention of realising gains through the successful listing of the company on the JSE or selling its stake to someone else. After investing in three companies and gaining majority control, it sold its Blue Dot Data Intelligence stake at a loss while the other two companies folded and were wounded up.

SSLVC’s tax remission expired on Sunday after listing on May 25, 2012. The stock is currently trading at $1.80, which values it at $719.55 million. This happened after the acquisition announcement was made public in January that pushed the stock above its listing price of $1.29 where it had struggled to remain above for years. SSLVC’s total assets at the end of March was $20.1 million with total liabilities of $73.1 million. It recorded a nine-month net profit attributable to shareholders of $11.32 million due to the write-off of inter-company payables balances.