At the close of trading on Monday, there were two lots of Grace’s stock on offer on the Jamaican Stock Market, 9,360 units at $63 and 200,000 at $65.
Over at the Trinidad Stock Exchange, the bid on the stock was the same as the last sale price, at TT$3.55 which equates to J$63, but only for 886 units. There was an offer to sell 12,300 units at TT$3.70 or J$65.50. Could the stock be set to jump? Probably.
Grace has been in the news recently with rise of 21 percent in profit for the six months to June and the purchase of a USA trading operation, La Fe Foods with revenues of US$80 million per annum, that should add nearly $9 billion to revenues in a full year.
Grace expects much benefit to flow from this acquisition, as La Fe Foods services the Hispanic market with a large population that should allow some of Grace’s branded products to find new markets. In addition, the acquisition will allow some products with inadequate margins, to be sold to a non-related distributor, to be exported by Grace to the USA market.
What’s up with Grace’s stock?
Grace acquires US$80M US food company
Jamaica’s Grace Kennedy continues its overseas expansion in what it says is a continuation of its strategy of becoming a Global Consumer Group. The company through one of its subsidiaries entered into an agreement to purchase the operating assets and business of La Fe Foods Inc., including its brand.
Grace Kennedy accounted for 82% of Monday’s volume.
La Fe is said to be the top Hispanic Brand in the frozen food category in Northeast USA. The company was established in 1968 and currently has revenues of approximately US$80 million. Grace expects the acquired business will be the platform for the growth of Grace Kennedy’s North American business going forward. The purchase price is US$26 million.
This acquisition is a major step in achieving our vision of being a Global Consumer Group,” said Grace Kennedy Group CEO, Don Wehby. “La Fe was attractive to us for several reasons, including its distribution channels across the East Coast USA and its strong relationships with blue-chip retailers across the US. The company has operations in Moonachie, New Jersey; Miami, Florida and Raleigh, North Carolina, with brand and distribution presence in the New York/Tri-state area, Florida, Georgia and the East Coast. Our international business started with the Jamaican diaspora. We have served them proudly for a very long time, and we will now be able to serve them even better while catering to a new market for Grace Kennedy as well. We are very excited about this acquisition, which we anticipate will be a serious game-changer for our Food Distribution Network,” he said.
Grace Kennedy products
The La Fe transaction is the second major acquisition for Grace Kennedy outside of Jamaica for the Foods Division with the first being the acquisition of WT Foods (now Grace Foods UK) in the UK in 2007. Grace Foods UK has shown improved profits and revenue since the 2007 acquisition.
The acquisition comes on the heels of Grace finalising the divestment of a part of its financial arm, to Proven Investments for US$18.6 million or J$2.05 billion for
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