(Jamaica Observer) Sunday Finance can confirm that recently listed company, First Rock Capital has made its first private equity investment by acquiring controlling interest in Montego Bay-based microfinance and cambio outfit Dolla Financial Services, which has operations across Jamaica and in Guyana.
The multimillion dollar transaction will also see First Rock acquiring the Guyana subsidiary, Dolla Guyana Limited, which First Rock will use as its foray into the Guyanese market, which the International Monetary Fund estimates will see economic growth of 86 per cent this year. This represents the biggest growth projected for any country in 2020.
Despite efforts to get greater details on the transaction, Jamaica Observer was advised that such details are restricted based on the confidentiality clause in the acquisition deal, which closes in 21 days.
Based on its financial standing, Dolla Financial is a profitable company which has a loan portfolio of around $300 million.
The six-year-old company is said to be doing extremely well, with seven branches spread mostly across rural Jamaica and more than 1,500 clients. In an exclusive interview with Sunday Finance, First Rock president and co-founder Ryan Reid disclosed that, based on Dolla’s latest financial results, First Rock is looking at a return on equity of about 25 per cent, which he declared, “represents real profits.”
When questioned whether First Rock, which is based in Jamaica and is in the business of private equity and real estate development, is now going into microfinance, Reid was adamant that this is not the case. Pointing out that First Rock has no plans to go directly into the microfinance market, Reid argued that “First Rock has merely executed private equity transaction with a
