Sagicor Financial Corporation’s (SFC) private placement of Bds$39 million worth of shares to the National Insurance Board of Barbados was part of its 2009 business plan, which included capital raising to finance acquisitions in the United States and the United Kingdom, said Dodridge Miller, SFC president and chief executive officer.
Miller said Sagicor’s 2009 business plan included a capital raising by way of new equity to be issued in Barbados, T&T and the United Kingdom. “This new capital is required to finance our further expansion, primarily in diligently selected opportunities in the United States and the United Kingdom,” Miller stated.
“After several months of working on the plan, we, along with our advisers, formed the view that market conditions were not appropriate for capital raising.
“Companies that had proceeded with a plan to raise capital did so at substantial discounts on their share price ranging from ten per cent to 30 per cent. “The board believed that this was not in the best interest of our shareholders and, therefore, postponed the capital raising exercise, and adjusted our business plan accordingly.
“However, we conducted preliminary discussions with significant long-term institutional investors in both Barbados and Trinidad to gauge their appetite to participate in an equity issue. “The private placement to the Barbados National Insurance Board was the culmination of these discussions,” Miller stated.
SFC said last weekend it had issued 11,766,705 shares to the National Insurance Board of Barbados at a price of Bds$3.325 per share via private placement
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