Govt. Sells 25% CIBC Bank Stake for US$9mn

Jamaican financial company West Indies Holdings has increased its stake in commercial bank CIBC Jamaica by paying US$9mn for the 25% stake held by the Jamaican government, Jamaica's finance and planning minister, Omar Davies, told a press conference. The offer by CIBC West Indies Holdings was the best received for the 48-million-share package in the commercial bank, Davies explained. The shares were administered by the state-owned Financial Sector Adjustment Company (FINSAC), who acquired them in May 1997 from life assurance company Life of Jamaica, as part of an assistance package for the financially troubled company. Other state-owned assets administered by FINSAC will be sold off before the end of April, when the government's 1999-2000 Budget will be announced, Davies said. Several other commercial banks, including Citizens, Workers and Eagle are to be consolidated to form a new entity, named Union Bank, for resale by FINSAC to the private sector.