Archives for November 2017

In 2015, West Indies Synthetics Company Ltd (WISYNCO) celebrated 50 years of operations by early 2018 the company is set to celebrate another milestone, as the third Mahfood majority owned company to be listed on the Jamaican Stock Exchange. 
Wisynco was formed as a result of the amalgamation of the three companies – West Indies Synthetics, Wisynco Trading Limited, and Jamaica Drink Company Limited.
Prior to this, CMP Industries that was primarily a manufacturing company supplying office equipment and material, was listed but suffered declining fortunes with the switch in import policies in the 1980s and 1990 that saw incentives being removed or slashed to protect local manufacturing. CMP still operates but as a property owner and is now controlled by the Trustees in Bankruptcy.
Jamaican Teas, listed on the Junior Market is majority owned by another branch of the family, that includes John Mahfood and his parent.

Wata produced by Wisynco

In 2009, Partner Foods Limited and Wendico Jamaica Limited merged to form one company – Wisynco Foods Limited. Wisynco Foods represents the brands Wendy’s, Domino’s and Haagen Dazs. In 2014, Wisynco purchased fifty percent share in United Estates Ltd & Trade Winds Citrus Ltd.
According to Wisynco website, Saleem Mahfood was married to Evelyn Shammas in Lebanon, following which on his return to Jamaica he opened his own wholesale haberdashery at 132 Harbour Street in downtown Kingston. He named it Mahfood’s Commercial Limited. The store distributed goods to retailers — footwear, including the once popular BATA sneakers, Cebo water boots; along with yard goods, and a range of haberdashery items.
The brothers formed WISYNCO and borrowed £150,000 from Barclays Bank to build and equip a 6,000-square-foot factory at Twickenham Park in St. Catherine and hence the official birth of Wisynco. The new plant started production and manufactured 60 pairs of boots per hour. Soon farmers, casual labourers, factory workers, and anyone needing protection from the elements would be sporting Jamaican-made Iron Man water boots. Initially Wisynco introduced a double-shift system to keep up with growing demand, and when that still was not enough, expanded to three shifts.

True Juice orange juice bottled by Wisynco

Growth continued even during the 1970s when Wisynco required 60,000 square feet of production and warehouse space in order to supply the Jamaican market with its expanding range of products.
Wisynco started production of cups and containers, in the old offices at West Indies Synthetics, Twickenham Park being brought into use as the thermoforming hall. In 1996, the company borrowed US$3 million and set up a 10,000 square-foot carbonated soft drink manufacturing plant and the start of BIGGA Soft Drink. In 2000 Wisynco introduced its own brand of purified artesian well water WATA to the Jamaican market.
in 2006, Wisynco began distributing Coca-Cola products on a non-exclusive basis.
Wisynco, recently opened its new distribution centre after fire gutted its Lakes Pen, St Catherine warehouse last year May. Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mahfood anticipates that the US$2 million ($2.6 billion) investment in the 360,000-square-foot distribution centre will further position the company to move aggressively after the export market. In fact, Wisynco plans to build a new beverage plant valued at US$8 million over the next six months to increase production numbers by 50 per cent as the company seeks to take on the Caribbean market.
IC Insider.com has been reliable advised that the company is estimated to have a market value around $38 billion at approximately the current average PE of the market. At this valuation when listed would rank as one of the largest company c on the exchange several bigger than any Junior Market company and about two thirds the size of Grace Kennedy and several times bigger than Jamaica Producers. NCB Capital Markets is said to be the brokers to the offering.