Bermuda's International and Local Companies and Limited Partnerships D listing

Owns a retail park near Lancashire County Cricket Club (LCCC), in UK, site of the famous Old Trafford Test Cricket venue. Objected legally against but lost the court battle against Trafford Council's plans to grant LCCC and development partners Tesco planning permission for a major redevelopment of the ground.

2017. February 10. Bermuda-based Frontline Ltd has acknowledged the decision by DHT Holdings to reject an offer to combine the crude oil tanker businesses. Frontline, which is more than twice the size of DHT in terms of market capitalisation and fleet size, had proposed to acquire all the outstanding common shares of DHT for a per-share consideration of 0.725 Frontline shares. By doing so said it would create the largest public tanker company by fleet size and market capitalisation. However, the directors of DHT, which is also domiciled in Bermuda, this week unanimously rejected the unsolicited proposal. Erik Lind, chairman of DHT said: “We believe that Frontline’s proposal substantially undervalues our company and represents an opportunistic attempt to acquire DHT at a low point in the cycle.” In response, Robert Hvide Macleod, Frontline’s chief executive officer, said: “We believe that our offer to DHT shareholders is highly compelling since it provides a meaningful upfront premium, while also giving all shareholders the opportunity to realize the full benefit of the significant synergies and attractive upside that a combined company would create.” In a statement, Frontline said the proposed offer represented a 19 per cent premium on the share price of DHT at closing on January 27. The statement added: “Rather than engaging in discussions with Frontline with the aim of achieving the highest possible offer to create maximum shareholder value, the board of directors of DHT adopted a one-year shareholder rights plan and has since continued to refuse to enter into any discussions. DHT also stated that the proposed offer represented an opportunistic attempt to acquire DHT at a low point in the cycle, which Frontline finds irrelevant given the all-share offer.” Frontline believes that combining the two companies would better position them to participate in a market recovery. Frontline has a market capitalisation of $1.15 billion, and a fleet of 59 ships, including 19 very large crude carriers, also known as VLCC. Together with its affiliates, it has already bought 15.3 million shares of DHT, representing 16.4 per cent of its outstanding common stock. DHT has a market capitalisation of $44.9 million, and a fleet of 19 VLCC and two Aframax tankers.

2017. February 8. A bid was recently made by Bermuda-based Frontline Ltd to acquire this independent crude oil tanker company less than half its size. The non-binding proposal was rejected by the directors of DHT Holdings, also domiciled in Bermuda. Frontline has one of the world’s largest fleets of very large crude carriers, also known as VLCC, and Suezmax tankers. It has a market capitalisation of $1.15 billion, and a fleet of 22 VLCC, 17 Suezmax tankers, and 20 smaller tankers. Its target was DHT, which has a market capitalisation of $449.4 million, and a fleet of 19 VLCC and two Aframax tankers. Frontline proposed to acquire all the outstanding common shares of DHT for a per-share consideration of 0.725 Frontline shares. Together with its affiliates, it has already bought 15.3 million shares of the smaller company, representing 16.4 per cent of its outstanding common stock. In a statement, Frontline said a business combination between itself and DHT would create the largest public tanker company by fleet size and market capitalisation. However, DHT’s directors unanimously rejected the proposal. Erik Lind, chairman of DHT, said: “We believe that Frontline’s proposal substantially undervalues our company and represents an opportunistic attempt to acquire DHT at a low point in the cycle. We are confident that DHT will generate significantly more value to shareholders as an independent company than the prospects afforded by this proposal.” The directors rejected the proposal after giving it a “comprehensive review, conducted in consultation with its financial and legal advisers,” the company said in a statement. 

2019. May 16. A digital asset business linked to diamonds that is said to have attracted millions of dollars in pre-orders from institutional investors, could be cleared to transact with its token and exchange by the end of this month. That is according to Cormac Kinney, chief executive officer of Diamond Standard, who spoke last week at a high-profile finance, economics and thought leadership conference in Las Vegas. Yesterday, Bermuda-incorporated Diamond Standard Ltd announced the appointment of James Campbell as its chief financial officer. He has also been named CFO of sister company Bitcarbon Technologies Ltd, which last year advertised for more than 20 positions in Hamilton. The company said it will start recruiting for ten to 12 positions in Bermuda during the coming months, with further positions to be filled later in the year. Diamond Standard is building an electronic diamond exchange in Bermuda. Mr Kinney, the founder, is a celebrated American entrepreneur and software designer with a lengthy track record in successful start-ups and technology-orientated business. His inventions have been cited in nearly 4,000 US patents. At the Salt Conference in Las Vegas last week, Mr Kinney appeared on a panel where he discussed the concept of the Diamond Standard coins, which contain an equal value of diamonds and feature an internal wireless encryption chip, a Bitcarbon Technologies-issued bitcarbon digital token for online trading. Among its proposed uses, the coin can act as collateral to borrow money or asset-back a smart contract, such as a down payment on a purchase. The token is said to be compatible with every blockchain programme. Mr Kinney said more than 90 per cent of the company’s initial orders have come from institutions that have never owned a digital asset. He said the majority are multi-trillion-dollar investment managers and ETFs. He added: “We have a lot of institutional investors in the equity of the company that also helped us with pre-orders. We now have several hundred million in pre-orders. We can’t actually launch. We’ve chosen to be regulated and our tokens and our exchange are both regulated by the Bermuda Monetary Authority, so we can’t actually transact for about one more week.” As of yesterday Bitcarbon and Diamond Standard were not listed as licensed entities on the BMA website. Mr Kinney has been featured in many publications, including Fortune and Forbes. He is the inventor of the heatmaps, which graphically depict financial market information and have been used extensively on Wall Street and beyond since the 1990s. He has raised venture capital from the likes of Intel, Deutsche Bank and Bank Stearns. Meanwhile, in yesterday’s announcement of Mr Campbell as CFO of Bitcarbon Technologies and Diamond Standard Ltd, the company said he would lead its local expansion and liaise with the Bermuda Government and the Bermuda Monetary Authority. Mr Campbell, a Bermuda resident, most recently advised the Bermuda Hospitals Board, and previously was CFO of Counterpartylink Ltd, a financial data company based in Hamilton and the UK. He is said to have more than 30 years of financial and operational experience, particularly with technology and telecom start-ups. Bitcarbon is operating from temporary offices at 55 Par-la-Ville Road. Bermudian Heather Kitson is also a director of Diamond Standard in Bermuda. Mr Kinney said: “I am delighted to welcome Jamie to our management team. His impressive qualifications, and past success in leadership roles at technology companies, make him ideally-suited to the role. As a Bermudian financial professional, he is committed to developing the country’s role as a world-class fintech hub. He will guide our company’s growth in partnership with the BMA and BDA, while building our local team.” Mr Campbell said: “I am excited to join Cormac and the Diamond Standard team at this important juncture in their growth. The company’s unique offering — the first diamond commodity which is also a digital asset — is the kind of leading-edge fintech investment that Bermuda wants to attract with our industry-leading digital asset legislation and our first-in-class regulatory environment, and I look forward to driving its long-term success.”

10/16/2000. International telecommunications. Non-Bermudian majority owned and controlled. An interesting and rare example of a Bermuda-registered international company with a local retail market presence as an Internet Service Provider ISP. Retail stores in Washington Mall, Phase II, P. O. Box 896 , 22 Church Street, Hamilton , HM 11 and Corner of Dundonald & Court Street.  Tel: 1 (441) 500 – 5000, Fax: 1 (441) 295 – 3235. Denis O'Brien, from Ireland, Chairman of the privately-owned Digicel Group. He founded Digicel in 2001 as a GSM cellular phone service in the Caribbean. He also founded Communicorp Group which owns and manages a portfolio of media and broadcasting-related companies in Ireland and eight other European countries. Digicel has extended its operations to 32 markets with over 11 million subscribers in the Caribbean, Central America and Pacific regions.  

2018. December 31. Digicel’s group chief executive officer has died while on vacation in his native Germany. The Bermuda-domiciled international telecommunications company revealed that Alex Matuschka Von Greiffenclau died last Thursday at the age of 47. His death came days after Digicel clinched a massive debt restructuring deal with bondholders after a process in which Mr Von Greiffenclau was a key figure. “No words can adequately express our sadness at Alex’s passing or our gratitude for having worked with him,” Denis O’Brien, Digicel’s founder and chairman, said in a note to employees last Friday. “Digicel has lost a committed hard-working and exceptional chief executive.” Digicel, whose operational headquarters are in Jamaica, offers telecoms services in 31 markets, including Bermuda and many Caribbean islands. Mr Von Greiffenclau, who joined Digicel as group CEO in February, had been negotiating with bondholders for about four months as the company grappled with its $6.7 billion debt pile. A deal was announced in the week before Christmas. It involved the majority of holders of $3 billion worth of bonds agreeing to swap their notes for longer-dated securities. Some 96.6 per cent of holders of $2 billion of bonds due in 2020 agreed to exchange their notes for securities that will be due to be redeemed in 2022. Meanwhile, 95.4 per cent of those holding Digicel’s $1 billion of existing 2022 bonds agreed to swap their holdings for notes that will mature in 2024. The Financial Times reported this month that there had been “anxiety about a possible default on the $2 billion bond due in 2020” and that Digicel bonds had been trading for 60 or 70 cents on the dollar. Mr Von Greiffenclau spearheaded an initiative to reduce Digicel’s debt to 5.7 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization from a ratio of 6.7 times at the end of the group’s last financial year in March, the Irish Times reported. The plan involves boosting earnings by 10 per cent to about $1.1 billion for the current financial year, and generating about $500 million from asset sales. Digicel executives signaled to analysts in November that as the sale of noncore assets is dragging on, it may not reach the debt ratio target as originally planned at the end of March 2019. Digicel scrapped plans for an initial public offering of shares in 2015, which could have helped to reduce its debt, on the grounds of market volatility at that time. Mr O’Brien, an Irish billionaire who has taken over as interim CEO, said of Mr Von Greiffenclau: “Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know him on a personal level have lost a dear friend. Over the coming days, we will share our thoughts for a suitable commemoration of Alex and his enormous contribution to the transformation of Digicel.”

2015. January.  Digicel set up a deal to buy the Bermuda Telephone Company, just months after it was sold to Canadian-led Barrie Holdings. A spokeswoman for Digicel confirmed: "As a complete communications and entertainment provider, we are always looking for opportunities to bring the Digicel promise of best service, best value and best network to more people and to grow and enhance our service offering. As such, Digicel and BTC have finalized an agreement whereby Digicel intends to acquire BTC. Digicel believes that BTC's fixed voice and internet services will complement Digicel's mobile offerings allowing Digicel to bring better services and value to consumers." Digicel declined to say what the terms of the deal were or how much it would pay for BTC. She added: The proposed deal is subject to regulatory approvals and as such, we must hold for those before progressing with our plans. With the good of customers and employees being our main concern, our intention is to grow our business here in Bermuda and to invest in the future. That will see us working to improve the service delivered to customers and looking to build out and enhance the products and services offered to them with an ultimate view to delivering an enhanced multimedia experience across multiple devices." BTC executive chairman Roy Graydon, who was part of the Barrie Holdings group of investors who bought BTC six months ago, said: "It was the opportunity to build Bermuda's leading telecommunications company that attracted us to BTC in the first place. But when Digicel approached us with an offer to combine the businesses, we realized that the two companies would complement each other and, working together, could substantially accelerate the pace of that build and it was clear that this would be the best and fastest way to enable us to provide the services of the future to consumers in Bermuda." The change of ownership still has to be approved by the Bermuda telecoms watchdog the Regulatory Authority of Bermuda (RAB). A RAB spokesman said it was aware of the proposed takeover. He added: "The Authority is actively seeking relevant details of the transaction from both parties to enable the formal review process under the Regulatory Authority Act 2011 to take place. Public comment on the proposed transaction will be sought as a part of our deliberations in due course." Island telecoms firm KeyTech Ltd sold the company in August last year to Barrie Holdings, which paid $30 million  "below the book price " for BTC. Mr Graydon said at the time the acquisition was the start of a new era and pledged to grow revenue and build a network to provide a range of services, including TV signals, internet access and even home monitoring systems. The Digicel spokeswoman said: "As and when we have updates, we will be sure to give them. It is worth pointing out that Digicel is built on a promise of delivering best service, best network and best value and to giving back to our communities. As such, you can expect us to take the same approach in this regard in terms of investment and innovation." The acquisition, if approved, will give the combined Digicel and BTC group their own landline network as well as maintaining its status as an internet service provider (ISP), putting them in direct competition with rival CableVision. 

An independent energy company specializing in oil and gas reserves exploration in east and central Africa and the next phase of its development - high impact drilling.

2018. February 12. American International Group says it expects its new Bermuda-based run-off company to bring jobs to the island. The new entity, known as DSA Reinsurance Company, will manage four-fifths of AIG’s legacy business and will be backed by $40 billion of invested assets. DSA Re will manage the group’s life, as well as property and casualty run-off business, with total reserves of about $37 billion. Asked about the potential for new jobs, an AIG spokesman told The Royal Gazette: “As the functional build-out of DSA Re continues, there will be an increase in the number of employees based in Bermuda.” New York-based AIG has had a presence in Bermuda for 70 years and is based in the American International Building on Richmond Road. Last month, the company announced it agreed a $5.6 billion all-cash deal to buy Bermudian reinsurer Validus Holdings, which operates out of the neighboring building, and will further increase the group’s Bermudian interests. AIG has been led since May last year by Bermudian-born chief executive officer Brian Duperreault, who has spent a large part of his career in the Bermuda insurance market, with Ace Group and later with Hamilton Insurance Group, a company he founded and led. After AIG spent most of the past decade shedding assets and paying off a massive US government bailout that saved it from collapse after the 2008 global financial crisis, Mr Duperreault has vowed to bring back growth. An AIG spokesman said DSA Re would be managed in line with the Bermuda head office requirements. He added: “The Bermuda-based insurance businesses of AIG each have distinct business models, and AIG believes it will derive better value from those businesses by allowing them to operate largely independently of each other, to compete with their respective peers and focus on their respective markets. Over time, there may be some sharing of back-office resources and facilities in Bermuda where it makes economic and strategic sense.” He added that AIG’s Legacy Team, established in 2016, and their support functions would be responsible for managing DSA Re. Selection of Bermuda as the domicile for DSA Re came after AIG had reviewed various potential jurisdictions and structures, the spokesman said. Bermuda, he added, had emerged as a logical choice for several reasons:

• Bermuda is the domicile of many key run-off comparables.
• Bermuda is one of the few jurisdictions that allows for life and non-life reinsurance liabilities to be housed in a single entity, allowing efficient management of liabilities on a portfolio basis and benefiting from diversification of the business lines.
• Credibility and reputation of the Bermuda Monetary Authority as insurance regulator.
• AIG’s current and historical presence in Bermuda.

The news of DSA Re’s formation came in AIG’s earnings statement for the fourth quarter of last year, which showed a loss of $6.7 billion. However, the net loss was roughly equivalent to a one-off charge related to US tax changes, while the underwriting loss at AIG’s North American business narrowed 94 per cent to $316 million. AIG reported $762 million in catastrophe losses during the fourth quarter and a record $4.2 billion for the whole of 2017. Sid Sankaran, AIG’s chief financial officer, said in a conference call with analysts last Friday: “We formed a Bermuda-domiciled legal entity, named DSA Reinsurance Company Ltd, to reinsure our legacy life and non-life run-off lines. By combining these run-off lines into a single well-capitalized legal entity, we were able to achieve operating synergies and strong diversification in assets. Legacy remains non-core and will be managed by a team with extensive run-off expertise.”