US Market
Port operator Kingston Wharves Limited has acquired a substantial stake in port services company Cargo Handlers Limited, CHL, and has an option to purchase additional shares, but says its future plans don’t include a takeover of the Montego Bay-based business.
Kingston Wharves now owns 27 per cent of CHL, which it acquired from co-founder and director of CHL Jane Fray, but the deal it struck allows the Kingston-based port operator to acquire an additional 13 per cent interest, which, if exercised, would grow its stake to 40 per cent.
The acquisition puts Kingston Wharves among the top three shareholders in Cargo Handlers, but the company said it neither intends to acquire a majority stake in CHL nor seek to take control of it.
The cargo handling company was co-founded by late business icon Tony Hart, whose family remains in control of the business. CHL Executive Chairman Mark Hart directly holds 26.4 per cent of the shares, while the largest stake, amounting to 27.2 per cent of CHL, is held through North Star Investment Limited.
Kingston Wharves’ purchase of Fray’s holdings amounted to over 112.9 million units of the 416.25 million CHL shares in issue. It comprised the totality of Fray’s holdings, based on the market disclosure of top CHL shareholders up to the first quarter of this year.