Acado Records US$8 Million Acquisition Gain as Insulin Market Consolidates in Jamaica

Acado Limited has recognised an US$8 million gain from its purchase of the Jamaica arm of Massy Distribution Limited, a transaction that placed the firm in a dominant position across the domestic insulin sector, albeit under a regulatory requirement to sell off part of that portfolio.

In introductory remarks to the financial results, Goddard Chair John Williams and Managing Director Anthony Ali noted the group’s solid start to the fiscal year. “The group has delivered a strong performance in the first half of the financial year,” they wrote. “Acado being the second-highest contributor to the group’s bottom line.”

Acado operates as an equal partnership between Barbados-headquartered Goddard Enterprises Limited and Trinidad and Tobago’s Agostini. The entity previously traded under the name Caribbean Distribution Partners Limited.

The accounting gain reflected a purchase price that fell short of the fair value of the net assets taken on. Financial disclosures show a single-period benefit of Bd$16.1 million, equivalent to US$8.0 million. Goddard Enterprises recorded Bd$8 million, or US$4 million, as its portion of that figure. The filings did not spell out the full amount paid for the deal.

The takeover broadened Acado’s reach in consumer goods and pharmaceuticals, bringing in two insulin labels — Novo Nordisk and Sanofi — which the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) estimated accounted for roughly 19 per cent of the market. Acado had already handled distribution for the Eli Lilly insulin range, which the commission’s preliminary staff assessment put at about 81 per cent of sales, based on figures that had been redacted in the published document but became readable when copied as plain text.

Massy Holdings, which finalised the divestment of its Jamaican distribution business in March, reported a TT$105.3 million disposal loss — US$15.5 million — in its March-quarter accounts. It also showed TT$40.22 million in combined earnings from those Jamaican operations ahead of the transfer.

The FTC granted conditional clearance for the merger, with the key stipulation that the Eli Lilly franchise be transferred to an independent distributor no later than September 2026. Regulators concluded that absent that step, one operator would command the overwhelming share of insulin supplied to an estimated 250,000 patients across Jamaica. “The merger would effectively change the insulin market from a duopoly to a monopoly,” the FTC staff report said. “It would substantially lessen competition” for a life-saving drug, the report added.

Separately, Goddard’s automotive arm introduced the GAC marque — built by China’s Guangzhou Automobile Group — in Jamaica during the first quarter via Fidelity Motors Limited, working alongside Motorworld Caribbean in a regional arrangement. The Kingston showroom stocks petrol, hybrid and all-electric variants. Revenue in the division climbed on GAC deliveries, even as Hurricane Melissa and higher borrowing expenses compressed bottom-line results.

“An increase in finance costs to secure inventory during the period resulted in a reduction in net income for the division,” Goddard reported.

Group-wide, Goddard’s revenue eased 2.3 per cent to Bd$895.24 million, or US$447.5 million, a decline the company linked to weaker cocoa prices at its processing plant in Ecuador.