CDPL To Deal In Fast Moving Good’s.
GODDARD Enterprises Limited (GEL) of Barbados and Agostini’s Limited (AL) of Trinidad have agreed to the formation of a jointly-owned company, Caribbean Distribution Partners Limited (CDPL), which will be focused on the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector.
Under the agreement, both GEL and AL will transfer into CDPL all of the companies in their respective groups in the FMCG sector, in the countries noted below, with effect from July 1.
The companies to be transferred into CDPL are as follows: the Goddard’s companies comprising HanschellInniss Limited of Barbados, Peter and Company Limited and Bryden and Partners Limited in St Lucia, Coreas Distribution Limited in St Vincent and Independence Agencies Limited in Grenada along with the Agostini’s companies, namely: Hand Arnold Trinidad Limited, Facey Trading Limited of Barbados and Desinco Limited of Guyana.
CDPL will be 50/50 owned by the two groups, and, based on an independent valuation by KPMG, AL will be required to pay GEL an undisclosed amount in order to acquire its 50 percent ownership. The CDPL companies will continue to operate in six regional markets with 2015 revenues of approximately US$230 million.
Both groups have a long and successful history in the FMCG distribution sector and see the formation of this joint venture as an opportunity to further improve the products and service to their customers, and to extend their distribution reach and marketing capabilities for their principals and proprietary brands.
“This exciting joint venture will expand GEL’s distribution into new important markets, Trinidad and Guyana in particular, improving the distribution of the products that both partners either manufacture or distribute”, said Anthony Ali, CEO of GEL.
“We at AL are very excited about this joint venture, because it will allow us to further expand our horizons in the region, bring new products to our consumers and allow us to rapidly extend the distribution of our own brands,” stated CEO of AL, Anthony Agostini.
The rest of GEL remains unaffected as CDPL will be taking responsibility for the day-to-day running of the FMCG sector on the transition date. “All employee terms and conditions will remain the same when we transition our staff to this new company and at this stage, we do not expect any major dislocation or changes to our employee complement”, explained Ali. “In fact, our employees will now be part of an even bigger entity and will be open to more opportunities for personal growth and development within the newly formed company”, he added.
GEL is a 94-year-old publicly traded conglomerate based in Barbados and AL is a Trinidad & Tobago 89-year-old publicly traded Group in the distribution and services sector.