(Trinidad Guardian) Massy Holdings Ltd spent US$24.5 million (TT$166.35 million) to acquire a warehouse in Jacksonville, Florida in October 2023, ten months after it paid US$47 million to purchase Rowe’s IGA, a chain of seven supermarkets in the town.
The warehouse Massy purchased is 172,136 square feet and is located in the Imeson International Industrial Park in North Jacksonville, according to a report yesterday in the Jacksonville Daily Record, a publication dealing with business and legal news in the Florida town.
At US$24.5 million, the cost per square foot of the 172,136 square feet warehouse is US$142.33 or TT$966.
In its 2023 annual report, Massy said that the acquisition of the warehouse “will facilitate the growth” of its integrated retail portfolio in the US market.
“In distribution, we have added new lines in every territory and opened new warehousing space in Barbados (Brandons), Guyana (Montrose) and Florida (Medley) to support this growth.
“The Medley warehouse has subsequently been sold and the Portfolio has acquired a new 170,000 sq. ft. warehouse facility in Jacksonville, Florida, which is three times the space used by Massy Distribution in Medley, providing ample room for IRP’s growth plans,” outlined the 2023 Massy annual report.
Of the acquisition of the supermarket chain in December 2022, Massy said: “The seven Rowe’s IGA stores have increased our family by over 400 associates and have contributed revenue of $798 million (US$118.4 million) and profit before tax of $30.3 million (US$4.5 million) in the 9.5 months since acquisition.
“The acquisition provides the base for the further expansion of the Portfolio’s Retail footprint in the lucrative US market, which is consistent with it achieving its ambitious growth objectives.”
Jacksonville-based NAI Hallmark said vice president and industrial specialist Jason Purdy and Senior Associate Camden Padgett brokered the warehouse transaction on behalf of Massy Distribution USA, based in Medley, according to the Jacksonville publication.
“Securing the ideal location, with close proximity to Jacksonville Airport, downtown and the port of Jacksonville, was a strategic move for our client. The city’s growing logistics hub, combined with our in-depth market knowledge, allowed us to navigate this competitive market and find the perfect property that met our buyer’s needs,” Purdy said in an October 2023 news release, according to the Jacksonville Daily Record.
Massy Distribution purchased the warehouse on October 16, 2023 from IPI-10775 Inc., part of Orlando-based Webb Southeast Inc. JPMorgan Chase of Miami issued a $9.65 million mortgage, the publication reported.
At its 100th annual meeting on December 18,2023, Massy’s former executive vice president of business integrity and group general counsel, Angelique Parisot-Potter, raised concerns about the “bizarre rituals” practised by Delphi Sphere Consultants, a husband and wife partnership of executive trainers, which include that they can train Massy employees to communicate with the dead and that attendees can self heal with ‘white light energy’.
“This is a matter of grave concern to shareholders because the couple leading this programme appear to exert disproportionate influence over our executive team. In the midst of a foreign exchange crisis Massy cannot be spending scarce resources on highly dubious activities, and contracts awarded cannot be pushed through without prudent due process.”
Massy dismissed Parisot-Potter’s concerns as “absurd,” even as the group hired an independent investigator to probe the matter.
