GHETT' a Life, the first film to be funded by local investors through a private equity agreement handled by PanCaribbean investments is now in the market for international distribution and is still open to investment through the financial institution's Sigma Venture portfolio.
PanCaribbean raised US$1.2 million ($102 million) in private equity for the Jamaican film project, a first for the institution.
Ghett'a Life, an "against the odds" action-drama set in a politically turbulent inner-city community of Kingston, was supported by an all-Jamaican cast and crew. The film, which has won critical acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival, for its script, is gaining momentum internationally.
"Ghett'a Life will debut at Carib on July 27, and currently a team is in Cannes promoting the movie and speaking with international distributors," Donovan Perkins, CEO, PanCaribbean told the Business Observer yesterday following the company's annual general meeting (AGM). "Plans are to take the project to at least two other film festivals," he said.
Ghett' A Life is one of the assets in PanCaribbean's Sigma Venture unit trust portfolio which provides investment opportunities in private equity, junior market companies, venture capital financing for start-ups and companies in their third stage financing cycle all within local, regional and international markets. Perkins said since the launch of the two funds, Sigma Venture and Sigma Corporate a week ago, investments have grown to $270 million and there has been interest from businesses in being a part of the investment pool.
"As it relates to venture, we hope to identify projects that require pre-IPO equity or quasi-equity financing as investment candidates. We've also been contacted by persons interested in seeing if resources will be available to consider their projects — interesting developments for a capital-starved market. The challenge will be to find good projects that are already off the ground, have demonstrated a viable business model and have strong entrepreneurs with management skills," Perkins said. PanCaribbean has also provided US$400,000 ($34 million) in project financing for Bolt's Tracks and Records, the Usain Bolt-branded sports and entertainment hot spot in Kingston.
While PanCaribbean Financial Services (PCFS) is off to a stellar start at the beginning of the year, with reported profits of just over half-a-billion dollars in the first quarter, Perkins said this year the Group aims to continue its performance in investment and asset management, while increasing its focus on the PanCaribbean Bank (PCB).
"We expect our bread to continue to be buttered by our traditional business lines -- investment banking, asset management, wealth management. Our 2011 focus is to continue to build out our commercial banking services, without ignoring our core activities," Perkins said. "Philip Armstrong, PCB's managing director has had good success winning new business in the SME segment of the market in Q1 also, and expect that to build momentum for the rest of the year. Stable and improving conditions make for a better environment."
At the financial year ended December 2010, PanCaribbean boasted a record net income of $1.52 billion for the 2010 period, three per cent over the $1.4 billion reported at the end of the financial year 2009. The result reflected five consecutive years of profit growth since 2006.
Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/PanCaribbean-backs-local-film-Ghett-a-Life_8874722#ixzz1NuDjYzia
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