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March 19, 2008 |
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AIR JAMAICA: Int'l Financial Group to Help Airline Find Partner The Jamaican government has contracted the International Financial Group to help Air Jamaica find a financial partner, Radio Jamaica reports. Reports say that the government is seeking a partner to help Air Jamaica financially. According to Radio Jamaica, Air Jamaica has been struggling with increasing debt and has looked at privatization as a means of survival. As reported in the Troubled Company Reporter-Latin America on March 12, 2008, the Jamaican government set a March 2009 deadline for Air Jamaica's privatization. Jamaica's Finance Minister Audley Shaw said that the government is on track with arrangements for the sale of Air Jamaica. A divestment committee was formed. RJR News reports, citing Air Jamaica's Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing Paul Pennicooke, the airline hopes the new partner will bring much needed capital. International Financial Group (which also goes by IFG Companies) provides commercial property/casualty insurance, including package property and general liability coverages. It also offers specialty coverage in areas such as inland marine, farm, and liquor liability; and it covers car dealers and auto services businesses, as well as special events such as camps and concerts. IFG operates on both an admitted and non-admitted basis through a handful of subsidiaries, with names such as First Financial Insurance, Burlington Insurance, Alamance, and Guilford. Its Guildford Specialty Group specializes in larger, more complex liability risks. Most of the group's business is produced by contracted agents. About Air Jamaica Headquartered in Kingston, Jamaica, Air Jamaica -- http://www.airjamaica.com/ -- was founded in 1969. It flies passengers and cargo to almost 30 destinations in the Caribbean, Europe, and North America. Air Jamaica offers vacation packages through Air Jamaica Vacations. The company closed its intra- island services unit, Air Jamaica Express, in October 2005. The Jamaican government assumed full ownership of the airline after an investor group turned over its 75% stake in late 2004. The government had owned 25% of the company after it went private in 1994. The Jamaican government does not plan to own Air Jamaica permanently. * * * As reported in the Troubled Company Reporter-Latin America on June 12, 2007, Moody's Investors Service assigned a rating of B1 to Air Jamaica Limited's guaranteed senior unsecured notes. On July 21, 2006, Standard & Poor's Rating Services assigned a "B" long-term foreign issuer credit rating on Air Jamaica Ltd., which is equal to the long-term foreign currency sovereign credit rating on Jamaica, based on the government's unconditional guarantee of both principal and interest payments. |
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