National Commercial Bank Jamaica Ltd (NCBJ) yesterday sold its remaining shares in JMMB Group Ltd.

The sale of 326,277,325 shares yielded proceeds in excess of $9 billion for NCBJ, which is a subsidiary of the NCB Financial Group. The transaction means NCBJ no longer holds equity interest in JMMB and as such, JMMB will not be considered an associated company of NCBJ and NCBFG.

“NCBFG will recognise a gain of nearly $3 billion on the sale of the shares. NCB Capital Market Limited acted as exclusive financial advisor and broker to NCBJ for the transaction,” the financial institution said in a statement to shareholders.

The buyer of the shares was not disclosed.

In 2011, NCB Capital Markets Ltd — a subsidiary of NCBJ — acquired 428, 777, 325 shares or a 29 per cent stake in JMMB, making it the ‘single largest’ owner of the financial institution. The transaction was valued at roughly $3.45 billion.

Upon conclusion of the sale, the banking group said the deal was “in line with NCBCM’s investment management strategy of taking positions in liquid financial assets and does not represent a move to take control of or acquire a majority stake in JMMB”. Earlier this year, NCBJ offloaded 102,500,000 JMMB Group ordinary shares which were taken up by PanJam Investment.

NCBJ’s sale of shares in JMMB comes amid attempts by NCBFG to acquire 62 per cent shareholding in regional insurance conglomerate, Guardian Holdings Ltd of Trinidad.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business-report/ncbj-offloads-jmmb-shares_153219