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Shares in Key Insurance Company Limited (KEY) inched up 4.4 per cent on news of the takeover offer by GraceKennedy Financial Group, which already owns three-quarters of the shares.
The move if successful would result in the delisting of the company listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE).
Currently, the stock trades below the offer price.
“The offer proposes to purchase 100 per cent of the company’s issued share capital not already owned by the offeror at a price of $2.70 per ordinary share,” noted the company in a release on the JSE.
The stock closed at $2.61 on Thursday. Key announced that it received a takeover bid circular from GraceKennedy Financial Group Limited on March 17. Key will issue and circulate a formal response to the offer called a directors’ Circular in” due course”, it added.
Key Insurance, which is currently listed on the Main Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange, has a market capitalisation of $1.4 billion to Thursday. The company has faced challenges in recent years, including financial instability before GraceKennedy's initial acquisition of a majority stake in 2020.
At that time, Key Insurance was grappling with significant losses and regulatory concerns, prompting a recapitalisation effort that was ultimately replaced by GraceKennedy's intervention.
Key Insurance’s revenue totaled $3 billion for its December 2024 year-end compared to $2.5 billion a year earlier. The company profit totaled $67 million compared to $42 million a year earlier.
The current takeover bid, which seeks to acquire the remaining 27 per cent of Key Insurance.
