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BHL seals major deals in the Bahamas and Belize

December 20, 2006

THE BHL GROUP has finalised agreements with two major regional
manufacturers to acquire equity in their companies.


In late November the Group finalised an agreement with CARIBCO in the
Bahamas to establish a 30% interest in their operation. CARIBCO owns and
operates the Coca-Cola franchise in the Bahamas.


BHL also acquired a 46.58% stake in Citrus Products of Belize Limited (CPBL).
CPBL is Caricom’s premier citrus grower and processor providing citrus
concentrates to regional as well as international clients.
BHL CEO Richard Cozier stated, “BHL was initially invited to enter a bid to
purchase the Coca-Cola franchise in the Bahamas. Whilst evaluating the value of
the operations, we were approached by a group of Bahamians proposing a
partnership. We viewed this as a more feasible option and agreed. BHL provides
CARIBCO with ongoing technical support particularly in the upgrading of its plant
and efficiencies. Our experiences in Barbados over the past 5 years have placed us
in a position where we have the resources in-house to facilitate a similar
technological upgrade of the Bahamas facilities”
The CEO added, “Our investment in CPBL guarantees the continuity of supply of
citrus concentrates to Pine Hill Dairy (PHD). CPBL is already a supplier of orange
juice and grapefruit concentrate to the Dairy and the deal paves the way for more
detailed discussions in respect of other flavour combinations. Demand for Frozen
Concentrate Orange Juice Concentrate (FCOJ) continues to grow worldwide and
supply difficulties in some of the larger producing countries has resulted in record
crop & processor prices. These prices are unlikely to fall in the short to medium
term and place CPBL in a position to register record profits in that timeframe.”
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Mr. Cozier added, “For many years our shareholders have asked about expanding
outside of Barbados. The journey towards this goal started in 2005 with BHL’s
purchase of shares in Banks DIH Ltd. in Guyana. We will continue to explore
other avenues for investment inside and outside of Barbados. The Barbadian
market is not getting any larger and we must look at the wider Caribbean to grow
in order to deliver the type of volumes we are looking for.”

 


BHL CEO Richard Cozier (right) revealed that BHL now owns shares in CARIBCO in the Bahamas and Citrus Products of Belize Limited. At left is BHL Public Relations Manager Sophia Cambridge.