Eppley Limited and Jamaica Producers Group Limited (JP Group) have formed a Barbadian joint venture called Capital Infrastructure Group Limited (CIG), which will invest in infrastructure projects across the Caribbean.
The publicly listed companies will control and manage CIG as equal partners, which will be funded by capital commitments by both firms along with anchor investor NCB Capital Markets Limited (NCBCM).
This will allow JP Group and Eppley to increase the scale and scope of their future infrastructure investments.
CIG was formed on May 7, 2021, with number 45509 as a domestic register with a foreign currency permit. Capital Infrastructure Managers Limited was formed on the same date with number 45508 as a domestic register.
JP Group Managing Director, Jeffrey Hall, said in the press release: "JP and Eppley each have strong track records of successfully deploying capital on behalf of their investors. We look forward to exploring new infrastructure investment opportunities together."
The announcement comes in the same week in which JP Group announced a merger of its operating assets with PanJam Investment Limited in exchange for a 34.5 per cent equity stake in PanJam. PanJam will be renamed Pan Jamaica Group Limited with a combined asset base of $111.28 billion. That deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023 subject to approval by both companies' shareholders at their respective extraordinary general meetings.
While JP Group operates its own logistics and infrastructure segment, including a majority stake in Kingston Wharves Limited, Eppley Limited manages over US$100 million in assets under management related largely to Eppley Caribbean Property Fund Limited SCC (ECPF) and Caribbean Mezzanine Fund II (CMF II). Eppley owns a 25 per cent stake in North Star Development Jamaica (Water) Limited, which is the owner and operator of a well, pump, storage and pipeline system that has been the exclusive provider of drinking water to The University of the West Indies, Mona campus since 2016. Eppley also manages North Star.
ECPF is a real estate mutual fund listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, Barbadian Stock Exchange and Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange, while CMF II is the first mezzanine credit fund in the English-speaking Caribbean which is co-managed by NCBCM.
