Kadeen Mairs, the renowned CEO of Dolla Financial Services, a fast-rising listed company, has tendered his resignation and officially proceeded on garden leave as of Friday, July 28.
The news of his departure was disclosed by Dolla Financial via the Jamaica Stock Exchange late Friday.
In light of this development, Deputy CEO Kenroy Kerr has taken on the role of interim CEO.
Mairs, with his holdings, is considered one of Jamaica’s youngest self-made billionaires, highlighting the remarkable growth and success of Dolla Financial Services under his leadership.
Over the years, Mairs worked diligently to build Dolla through strategic financial partnerships, first with Stocks & Securities and later with FirstRock.
Earlier this week, Dolla announced the appointment of executives of Supreme Ventures and Mayberry Investments after the former acquired a stake in the micro-lending company.
Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL) this week acquired 375 million units to gain 15 per cent of total shareholding at 2.5 billion units.
Gary Peart, the chairman of SVL, praised Dolla’s rapid growth in the microfinance sector and commended its exceptional management team.
Following this acquisition, Dolla Financial Services welcomed two executives from Supreme Ventures Limited to its board of directors. Xesus Johnston, the current CEO of Supreme Ventures Gaming Limited, and Andrea Whittaker, the Chief Operating Officer of Mayberry Investments Limited, have been invited to join the board, subject to approval by the Bank of Jamaica under the Microcredit Act of Jamaica.
In a significant move, FirstRock Private Equity Limited sold 600 million shares, representing 24 per cent of its stake in Dolla on Monday, July 24.
This strategic sale reduced its ownership from 60 per cent to 36 per cent, while maintaining its position as the largest shareholder. Notably, Mairs, the founder of Dolla, through his company Dequity Capital, becomes the second-largest owner, and Supreme Ventures now holds the third position in the top shareholders’ list.
Dolla Financial Services has experienced remarkable success, with its loan portfolio net of bad loans reaching an impressive $2.3 billion as of March 31, 2023. This figure represents a substantial increase of $1.4 billion or 161 per cent compared to the same period in the previous year.
The company’s financial performance was further strengthened by increased resources from an initial public offering and debt raise.
Despite these developments, Mairs did not respond to requests for a comment on the new stakeholding by Supreme Ventures Limited.
Mairs has a wealth of experience in the financial sector, with a background that includes credit unions, commercial banks, and the capital markets.
Notably, he was also a founding member of the microfinance institution M-Twentyfour Investments Limited, which Dolla Financial Services acquired in 2016 from an outside entity majority held by SSL.
Under Mairs’ guidance, Dolla Financial Services strategically shifted its focus towards higher-margin businesses and made a conscious decision to reduce its involvement in lower remittance, bill payments, and cambio divisions.
Dolla redirected these resources into microcredit services, leading to its current strong position in the market.
Dolla Financial Services debuted on the Jamaica Stock Exchange in June 2022, successfully raising capital to further fuel its growth. Subsequently, it raised an additional $1 billion through a bond issuance to expand its loan offerings.
Presently, Dolla trades with a market capitalization of $7.2 billion, and Mairs maintains a substantial 20 per cent stake through Dequity.
