Scotiabank Canada moves to take Scotia Group Jamaica private

Scotiabank Canada has proposed buying the Scotia Group Jamaica shares it does not already hold, a transaction that would make the Jamaican company fully private and remove it from the Jamaica Stock Exchange if all approvals are secured.

The bank said the offer is part of a wider push to improve capital use and operational efficiency in its Caribbean operations. The deal is to proceed by way of a court-approved scheme of arrangement under Jamaica’s Companies Act. Minority shareholders are expected to meet in the coming months to vote on the proposal, with completion targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to court approval and other standard conditions.

Scotiabank said the cash offer to minority investors totals about C$500 million. The report said Scotiabank shares were trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange at C$117, while the Jamaica-listed stock was valued at the equivalent of 54 Canadian cents.

In real estate, the Realtors Association of Jamaica’s Multiple Listing Service reported J$100 billion in property sales for 2025, despite economic disruption linked to Hurricane Melissa. St. Andrew, St. Ann and St. Catherine accounted for J$99.3 billion. The MLS figures are based on transaction reports from about 2,000 registered realtors and exclude direct developer sales and private deals outside the system.

Roger Allen, second vice-president of the association and chair of its MLS committee, described the market as split between high-volume urban areas and tourism-driven parishes where fewer transactions produced strong values. St. Andrew recorded 1,727 sales worth J$41.17 billion, St. Ann reached J$27.36 billion, and St. Catherine posted J$11.71 billion from 700 transactions. Westmoreland recorded J$6.8 billion from 52 high-value deals, while St. Mary had J$3.4 billion, Manchester J$2.3 billion and St. Thomas J$96.2 million, the weakest parish result listed.

For June 12, 2026, the most active JSE trades were Kintyre Holdings Jamaica Limited with 281,303,095 units, TransJamaican Highway Limited with 7,495 units, and Innovative Energy Group Limited with 5,454,166 units. The report said investor interest remained focused on energy distribution, transport and strategic dividend assets.

Bank of Jamaica data for the same date showed active foreign exchange trading. The US dollar sold at J$157.27 and was bought at J$159.20. The Canadian dollar sold at J$114.34 and was bought at J$112.78, while the British pound sold at J$213.52 and was bought at J$206.94.