One of the Caribbean’s biggest IPOs just happened in… Barbados. Hmm.
One of Barbados’ oldest manufacturing companies, Roberts Manufacturing Company, officially closed its IPO on May 7 after weeks of strong attention from investors across the region.
The IPO opened on April 16, and the company is now expected to list on the Barbados Stock Exchange later this month under the ticker RMCO.
Roberts Manufacturing has been around since 1937. The company makes everything from margarine, shortening and edible oils to animal feed products. They’re sold across more than a dozen Caribbean markets.
So why was this IPO such a big deal? Because this takes regional business to a whole different level.
The IPO was driven by PROVEN Group and ANSA McAL, which jointly owned Roberts Manufacturing before the offer.
Before the IPO, Proven owned 50.5% of the company, while ANSA McAL owned 49.5%. Through the public offer, both companies sold their stakes down to about 25% each.
The overall IPO was valued at about US$30 million, with shares priced at US$0.50 or BD$1 each.
And investors definitely showed up for this one.
Reports out of Barbados say the IPO attracted more than 1,600 applicants. This includes regular retail investors, pension funds, insurance companies, mutual funds and credit unions from across the Caribbean.
The company did not officially call the offer oversubscribed, but management described the response as extremely strong, and regional investors were clearly paying attention.
Now interestingly, this IPO was not really about Roberts Manufacturing needing cash to expand operations. The benefit was mostly for Proven and ANSA McAL.
For Proven especially, that matters because they’ve been under pressure from investors over liquidity, debt and dividends. So this deal helps Proven free up cash and strengthen its balance sheet.
And speaking of dividends, that became a major selling point around the Roberts IPO too. Roberts Manufacturing is already viewed as a mature and profitable company with stable regional business operations. This makes it attractive for pension funds and long-term investors looking for reliable returns instead of risky growth plays.
The company says they plan to pay out 50% of net profits as dividends. Since 2021, they’ve paid out over BD$33 million in dividends. That’s about US$16.5 million.
And that’s the bottom line.
